Former Sunderland striker who scored in Tyne-Wear derby advises £68m star to join Newcastle United

Newcastle United have been named as an ideal destination for Sporting CP captain Morten Hjulmand.

The 25-year-old midfielder is reportedly on the radar of several European clubs having starred for the Portuguese giants since joining from Italian side Leece for £18million in the summer of 2023. Hjulmand won the Primeira Liga title last season under now Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim and was named in the league’s team of the year.

Hjulmand’s future has been up for debate in his homeland of Denmark, with former Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner quizzed about it on the Stolpe Ind podcast. Bendtner of course, had a brief loan spell at the Magpies’ bitter rivals Sunderland, scoring in a 1-1 draw at St James’ Park in March 2012, but he didn’t let that cloud his judgement.

Indeed, the 37-year-old believes Hjulmand would be best suited to La Liga or the Premier League, and named Newcastle as one of three clubs.

“I didn’t know Hjulmand very well until a few years ago and he impressed me, not only in the national team, but also in Sporting,” Bendtner said, as relayed by A Bola,

“You want to play in a team that wins. You don’t want to move somewhere where you don’t fight for championships. I feel like he can play in the Premier League or Spanish football. I think he is good enough to adapt to both.

“At Atletico, he would even enter the field hand in hand with Diego Simeone. Similarly fit in Newcastle midfield. They have a crazy dynamic, the three boys. I feel like it could also be an asset at Aston Villa. In these clubs that have already done well, I see him coming in and improving even more.”

Newcastle hadn’t yet been linked with Hjulmand until Bendtner’s admission. The Dane has a release clause of around £68million and according to A Bole, Sporting don’t plan to negotiate below that.

Do Newcastle United need to sign a midfielder?

To bolster the squad yes but not in terms of the starting XI with Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton this season emerging as one of the best midfields in the Premier League.

“I would say they're certainly up there, whether that's me being biased or not, but you're talking three international players,” Newcastle assistant coach Jason Tindall admitted.

“One is an Italian international and two are Brazilian internationals, so I think when you look at the calibre of countries that they play for and the players that they are, there's certainly a tough opposition for anybody to play against.

“They're in really good form, they've got a really good understanding with each other, strengths and weaknesses. And as we see from the weekend, all three of them I thought were magnificent against Manchester United.

“They're great characters, they won't drop below their standards, they're great leaders and we're going to need that leadership and quality for the remaining seven games.”

Newcastle’s priorities in the summer transfer window lie elsewhere with a goalkeeper, central defender and right forward top of the list.

YOUR NEXT READ: Newcastle United transfer truth as Sandro Tonali makes mockery of 'nonsensical' Italian media claims.