Upgrade on Wissa: Newcastle chasing "one of the best 9s in the world"
Newcastle United have had a helter-skelter of a summer transfer window, and Eddie Howe’s side haven’t reached the end of the tunnel just yet.
Of course, the frenetic nature of this window doesn’t necessarily mean it’s been a poor one for the Magpies, even though a slew of transfer targets have slipped through Toon fingers, namely at centre-forward.
And so we have the Alexander Isak conundrum. Will the Sweden striker play in black and white two weeks from now?
If Newcastle stick to their guns and resist the player and Liverpool’s attempts, his threats of maintaining his self-ostracisation might seem somewhat shallow, for the 25-year-old would surely not jeopardise his career in such a manner, with Champions League football looming and a World Cup campaign looming on the horizon across the pond.
However, keeping Isak at St. James’ Park comes with the huge caveat that there is no telling what version – if any – will front Howe’s ship over the coming year.
That’s why sealing a move for Yoane Wissa is so important.
The latest on Yoane Wissa to Newcastle
Wissa was one of the most prolific forwards in the Premier League last season, scoring 19 goals across the term. Bryan Mbeumo often took the plaudits under Thomas Frank’s wing, but the DR Congo striker was every bit as effective.
Frank, now manager at Tottenham Hotspur, wants to sign Wissa before the closure of the transfer window, thus putting another spanner in the works for Howe.
Luckily, the 28-year-old is determined to sign for Newcastle this summer, having removed all Brentford affiliation from his social media footprint as he looks to seal his move to England’s North East.
A deal for Wissa has always been a separate entity when considering the fight to keep Isak on Tyneside.
That’s why – while Newcastle are prepared to keep their star striker at the club – plans are still being explored for a potential successor.
Newcastle consider rejoining transfer battle
According to TEAMtalk, Newcastle are willing to forgo their interest in Nicolas Jackson if it means Aston Villa secure the Senegalese’s services, because then they could re-enter the race for Ollie Watkins.
Villa have been hindered by the trammels of PSR this summer, but the public stance at Villa Park is that their 29-year-old talisman is going nowhere, even if they land Jackson from Chelsea.
However, this hasn’t stopped Newcastle from preparing to register their interest once again, though it would seem that Aston Villa are sticking to their £50m valuation.
Why Newcastle should sign Ollie Watkins
Despite the late advance of Tottenham, Wissa continues to keep his sights on Newcastle’s first team, and at some stage, Brentford are sure to ease their resistance.
Whatever happens, Newcastle must also put their focus into signing Watkins, for he would do a half-decent job at stepping in for Isak.
Described as “one of the best 9s in the world” by Statman Dave, Watkins has proven time and time again his expertise as a Premier League frontman, and that could remain so with a one-way trip to Tyneside at this later stage of his career, leading the line as Isak’s replacement, should that come to pass.
He has a good record against Newcastle: five goals and three assists across ten matches. Watkins blanked, however, last weekend.
Even so, it wouldn’t hurt to take from the Premier League a striker rich in potency when pitted against United, and fronting their team with him.
Last season, Watkins wasn’t at his best, but he still managed to finish the league campaign with a return of 16 goals and eight assists.
A willing runner behind defences and a combative forward with a wide breadth of ways to hurt opponents, Watkins would be the cream of a new crop of attacking talent at Newcastle, for sure.
While Wissa and Watkins could cohabit within Howe’s Newcastle frontline, it’s hardly controversial to suggest that the former might outrank the other. The Villan star has proven himself and then some in the world’s toughest league, and he’s also got more variation to his attacking game than the Brentford sharpshooter.
Indeed, as per FBref’s data, Watkins ranks among the top 3% of strikers across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for assists and the top 19% for progressive carries per 90.
Quite the player. And he’s something of a star on the big stage too, boasting some pretty impressive individual records against the English top flight’s legacy ‘big six’.
As Howe looks to mastermind the latest success in his growing list of triumphs as Newcastle manager, there’s every chance that Watkins at the spearhead would allow Newcastle to reprise their place in the Champions League at the end of the season while competing for further slices of silverware, having gotten a taste for the big prizes during last season’s Carabao Cup final victory over Liverpool.
Would Watkins definitively prove to be an upgrade on Wissa? It would appear so. He’s got more about him, and even after a ‘poor’ campaign in the Premier League last year, the Three Lions star still managed to trail Wissa in his pomp by just three goals.
Newcastle have a problem in Alexander Isak. He has divorced himself from the Newcastle squad and appears willing to stay in isolation.
But with Watkins added to the fold, United would have what they need to attack the season. He’d certainly be an upgrade on Wissa, but given the two forwards would be competing alongside each other, that doesn’t really matter, does it?
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