Newcastle United sealed the signing of Emil Krafth from Amiens on at the end of the transfer window, and the tall Swedish right-back has started every game for his new club – except the Premier League opener against Arsenal.
The 25-year-old was dreadful on his debut against Norwich, but since then he has looked like he could be the solution to Newcastle’s long-term right-back problem.
Krafth has looked solid defensively while also providing a good attacking threat down the right.
Against Leicester City, his home debut, he scored, but it was disallowed for offside, and there is no VAR in Carabao Cup games, so the decision stood.
In the following match against Watford, it was his cross that was headed down by Isaac Hayden for Fabian Schar to level.
So, he already seems like a much more reliable threat going forward than DeAndre Yedlin or Javier Manquillo – who have both struggled to provide consistent end product in the past few years.
In defence, Krafth had to deal with Heung-min Son in just his second Premier League game and apart from one early scare the 25-year-old dealt with the threat of the South Korean superbly well.
Krafth is also a full international for Sweden and has 20 caps – which will surely only increase now that he and Victor Lindelof are the only two Swede’s playing regularly in the Premier League.
Next up for the 25-year-old is a visit to Liverpool where he will have to deal with Sadio Mane – if he can keep him quiet, then Newcastle may well have found a bargain and a solution to a position that has been a problem since Mathieu Debuchy left.
Steve Bruce has made Krafth his number one right-back, and though it is early the days, it looks like the Toon have signed a good player.