Magpies Legend Slams Newcastle's Transfer Policy As Club Pursue Wijnaldum

Newcastle United legend Rob Lee has lambasted the club's transfer policy amid their pursuit of Georginio Wijnaldum - labelling the move a "gamble". The Magpies are closing in on a £12 million move for PSV Eindhoven midfielder Wijnaldum and hope to secure his signature in the coming days, but Lee does not believe the Dutchman is the sort of player they should be targeting. Instead, former Magpies midfielder Lee took to Kicca to slam Newcastle's recruitment policy of signing "another player people have hardly ever heard of", rather than bringing in "quality proven Premier League" signings.

In a post on Kicca on Wednesday, Lee - who scored 56 goals in 379 appearances for Newcastle between 1992 and 2002 - said:

"In midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum it looks like Newcastle United are to sign another player people have hardly ever heard of. "This has unfortunately become the Newcastle way of late. They seem keen to buy players from Europe with no Premier League experience in the hope they can make money selling them on later. "Well it's a gamble that isn't working and hasn't worked for a long time. What Newcastle need are three or four top quality players who have already proven they can play in the Premier League. "These are the kind of players which can make a real difference to the side, but they need to make these signings now because at the moment the squad just isn't good enough."

Sunderland, Manchester United, Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain had all previously been credited with an interest in Wijnaldum, but it seems to be a straight fight between Newcastle and Everton now. The midfielder has already been capped 18 times by Holland, scoring twice, and is regarded as one of the most-promising players in Europe due to the fact he has a habit of regularly finding the back of the net. Furthermore, the 24-year-old has already won three trophies with PSV and has made 152 appearances, scoring an impressive 56 times from midfield and contributing 23 assists, since moving there from Feyenoord in 2011. The midfielder also netted for Holland during the 3-0 third-place play-off win over Brazil at last year€™s World Cup. Interestingly, this is the second time is as many days that Lee has criticised the Magpies - after declaring earlier in the week, "Why would (Queens Park Rangers forward) Charlie Austin choose Newcastle United?"For all the latest NUFC News, Views and Transfers make sure to follow whatculture.com/NUFC on Twitter and Facebook.