Newcastle United fans from far and wide eagerly anticipate the advent of Monday night’s Premier League clash, with Eddie Howe’s side meeting Liverpool to St. James’ Park.
Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton and the like will want to mete out a kind of retribution on the defending champions after weeks of being embroiled in a bitter transfer saga concerning the future of Alexander Isak, who is on strike as he tries to force a move to Merseyside.
Isak won’t be involved, Howe has confirmed. Whether the Sweden striker will wear black and white again remains a million-dollar question, and one that has disrupted United’s build-up to the 2024/25 campaign.
Though Anthony Gordon gave it his all as a makeshift number nine as Newcastle opened their season with a goalless draw at Villa Park last weekend, it’s clear that a natural finisher is needed.
And though the interminable search for such a forward drags on, there remains hope that Newcastle will get a deal for Brentford’s Yoane Wissa over the line.
The latest on Yoane Wissa to Newcastle
Newcastle have been locked in a battle to sign Wissa for several weeks, and though the 28-year-old is desperate to move to Tyneside, with parallels to Isak’s situation, his outfit are playing hardball, having rejected two bids so far.
Brentford manager Keith Andrews said earlier this week that the DR Congo star had returned to pre-season training, but he played no part in the Bees’ trip to Aston Villa on Saturday.
Wissa scored 19 goals in the Premier League last season, but he’s not as technically gifted or nimble-footed as Isak, and so is not actually viewed as the 25-year-old’s potential replacement.
Callum Wilson, after all, joined West Ham United this summer after his contract expired with the Toon.
So then, Newcastle might need to sign a centre-forward to compete with Wissa, should he arrive, for a place in Howe’s starting 11. And they might have found one who has more about him than the Premier League goalscorer.
Newcastle enter the bidding for new striker
According to Spanish sources, Newcastle have entered the bidding for Atletico Madrid striker Alexander Sorloth, who wants to leave Diego Simeone’s side before the end of the transfer window.
The prolific marksman is available for a cut-price €35m (£30m) figure, which is beneath the £40m offer Newcastle tabled for Wissa earlier this week.
However, Tottenham Hotspur and Serie A champions Napoli are also reported to be interested in the Norway international, so Howe and his transfer coterie will need to act swiftly here.
What Sorloth would bring to Newcastle
The 29-year-old Sorloth might not be a spring chicken, but he’s developed into a devastating striker in Spain, having previously fallen by the wayside when at Crystal Palace seven years ago, scoring just once across 20 matches.
Afterwards, Sorloth rediscovered himself out on loan in Turkey with Trabzonspor, scoring 33 goals across the 2019/20 campaign. He hopped to Germany and joined RB Leipzig, and that was so-so, but La Liga has proved a hothouse for his shooting skills, having now surpassed 20 goals in successive campaigns, first with Villarreal and then in the capital under Simeone’s wing.
Last term, in fact, Sorloth managed to notch 24 goals across 53 appearances for Atletico, starting only 20 of those matches. Talk about clutch. Simeone remarked that the frontman had been “phenomenal” when finding space in the box.
Sorloth is powerful and prolific, but he’s also mobile and committed during defensive phases. When looking at how he matches up against Wissa over the past 365 days, there’s little question that he’s the more complete man.
Goals scored
0.94
0.57
Assists
0.10
0.10
Shots taken
4.30
2.79
Touches (att pen)
6.37
5.01
Shot-creating actions
1.78
2.16
Progressive passes
1.97
2.06
Progressive carries
1.83
1.87
Successful take-ons
0.84
0.44
Aerials won
5.04
0.92
And that’s okay. Wissa is not targeted for his creativity (although he showed when linking up with Bryan Mbeumo last season that he’s capable of more than just shooting), and he would serve as a neat foil if Sorloth were to be welcomed to the fold.
For such a hulking striker, the 6 foot 4 Sorloth has a spring in his step, and his willingness to get on the ball and drive forward himself suggests that he could provide Howe with a more dynamic and effective focal point at the front of his system.
It’s something that Isak, 6 foot 3 himself, has performed with such aplomb across his three years as a Magpie.
In this way, it feels crucial that Newcastle beat off the competition and sign Sorloth this month, maybe even combining him with Wissa at number nine.
Sorloth is far above the level he performed while playing for Crystal Palace, and given the overarching fluidity that Newcastle’s squad is imbued with, there’s no reason why he couldn’t produce the goods for Howe over the next several years.
As well as his goalscoring success across the 2024/25 campaign, the nomadic forward also won 51% of his duels across the La Liga campaign, further underscoring his robust and combative nature, tailor-made for the rigorous nature of the Premier League.
Though there remains a chance that Isak could be reintegrated into Howe’s Newcastle team, it may well be that irreparable damage has been done over these frantic past weeks.
If that truly is the case, it would be worthwhile to sign a player such as Sorloth, who is progressive, strong and boasts a prolific touch that surpasses even Wissa on his A-game last year.
Higher ceiling than Wissa: Newcastle in talks to sign £80m CF this week
Newcastle United are in talks to sign a star who has an even higher ceiling than Wissa.
ByWill Miller