Alan Shearer has spelt out Newcastle United’s main transfer priority for the remainder of the window - and it’s to bring in a striker. The Toon legend is not alone in his view and that’s probably one element of the problem Newcastle’s transfer team face.
The fact is that those at Newcastle know a striker is a must as do the fans but so do the clubs that may be approached to sell their players. Toon boss Eddie Howe has spoken of frustration with the current stage of the window. Those frustrations are not aimed at the hierarchy as they’ve actively tried to provide him with what he wants and that in itself is refreshing.
The owners have not chosen to wait until the final throes on the transfer window and have been proactive in their search for additions and it is only the mood of the market which has left Howe and those above him feeling that source of frustration. Shearer, writing in his BBC Sport column, shared his insight into the chase, revealing that ‘they are actively looking and a forward is what they are trying to get in.’
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Joao Pedro looks most likely - the 20-year-old’s absence from Watford’s last match-day squad further sparked hope that a deal is close. But the Magpies have been here before with Hugo Ekitike with a deal said to have been agreed only for the forward to join PSG.
Admittedly, Pedro looks much more likely. At £25 million, no other Premier League teams seem ready to swoop and step in on Newcastle’s target. A lot has been said about the profile that the Magpies are looking at and it’s seemingly someone who is young with a career ahead of him rather than a top striker with demands to play week in and week out.
Callum Wilson’s performances in the first three games of the season has shown just why it may be hard to sell a move to Newcastle for a player in their prime and wanting first-team football. Two superb strikes against Nottingham Forest and Man City have reminded people outside of Tyneside just what Wilson can do.
“Wilson mentioned in the matchday programme,” Shearer wrote for BBC Sport, “about breaking back into the England squad and that has to be his aim. Harry Kane is the striker that will play in Qatar but there are places up for grabs behind him. We know Wilson will score goals and that he is a really good player; the one issue you have is his fitness.
“The manager took him off with 15-20 minutes to go against City and that might become a regular tactic to save him from getting injuries in the last portion of the match when he is tired and the muscles are fatiguing.”
Sadly though Shearer’s comments serve as a timely reminder of the gamble Newcastle are playing. Indeed, Wilson came off with a ‘tightness’ of his hamstring, Howe told reporters after the City game.
The very fact that the most read story on the Newcastle section of Chronicle Live yesterday was an injury update on Wilson goes to show how much attention - and concern there is about Newcastle’s current no.9. When fit and firing, there are few better but United, even if they bring in a young striker like Pedro, do run the risk of being caught short if Wilson succumbs to injury.
But the very fact is that a striker of Wilson’s pedigree costs money - and that’s even before the so-called Newcastle tax is added. The Magpies’ owners to their credit have had a plan and stuck to it - their refusal to adopt a scattergun approach can only be applauded.
“The new owners have come in and done their business in a very sensible and measured way. That is the right way to go and everyone is very happy with that. There have been numerous clubs trying to make success happen quickly by spending. Everton are a good example of that - look at the money they have wasted over the years in chasing the dream.
“The owners are looking to bring in not just the right players but the right characters too - people who want to immerse themselves in the city, such as Kieran Trippier, Sven Botman, Matt Targett, Dan Burn and Pope.
“But in particular, Bruno Guimaraes fits that description - because of where he is from in Brazil, he just gets the area. It shows the way the club want to do things.”
So far the owners have hit the right tone in the market - and it would be hard to describe this window, even without a striker, a failure but failing to secure a goalscorer could come at a cost between September and December, and even more so from January 1st.
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