It's very early into the new season and Newcastle United have already had a big striker scare when Alexander Isak was a doubt to face Fulham.
With Callum Wilson still out with the injury he picked up in pre-season, Eddie Howe was left with the choice of playing an inexperienced young striker who hadn't kicked a ball for the club or playing a winger out of position through the middle.
Fortunately, Alexander Isak was able to recover in time to take his place on the field on Saturday, for what it was worth.
We felt that Newcastle had to buy a striker in the summer, and while they did that in the form of Will Osula, the fact that the young Danish international has played just a few minutes of football having been brought on late at Craven Cottage, speaks volumes about where he's currently at in Eddie Howe's thoughts.
There was a lot of talk in the summer, once again, about Newcastle being interested in Everton's Dominic Calvert-Lewin but the Toffees slapped a hard £40 million price tag on the striker, Newcastle backed away.
However, Fabrizio Romano has said in his Daily Briefing that Newcastle remain keen on the 27-year-old but aren't the only club interested.
"There is nothing concrete or advanced yet in terms of a new Everton contract for Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
"It’s something they are likely to decide in the next months, no substantial changes now. There’s not only Newcastle among clubs interested – many other clubs are also attentive to his situation at Everton.”
It has just been revealed today that Everton's takeover has moved a big step closer to being completed which could completely change the dynamic at the club and affect Calvert-Lewin's decision about his Everton future one way or another.
However, many Newcastle fans just see Calvert-Lewin as a direct swap for Callum Wilson in that he's a talented forward with a quality strike rate, but spends way too much time on the sidelines with injuries.
We believe there are far better options out there for Newcastle. Not to sound like a broken record but Jonathan David is surely a better punt than Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Liverpool
|
14 | 18 | 35 |
2 |
Chelsea
|
15 | 17 | 31 |
3 |
Arsenal
|
15 | 14 | 29 |
4 |
Manchester City
|
15 | 6 | 27 |
5 |
Nottingham Forest
|
15 | 1 | 25 |
6 |
Aston Villa
|
15 | 0 | 25 |
7 |
Brighton
|
15 | 3 | 24 |
8 |
Bournemouth
|
15 | 3 | 24 |
9 |
Brentford
|
15 | 3 | 23 |
10 |
Fulham
|
15 | 2 | 23 |
11 |
Tottenham Hotspur
|
15 | 12 | 20 |
12 |
Newcastle United
|
15 | -2 | 20 |
13 |
Manchester United
|
15 | 1 | 19 |
14 |
West Ham United
|
15 | -8 | 18 |
15 |
Everton
|
14 | -7 | 14 |
16 |
Leicester
|
15 | -9 | 14 |
17 |
Crystal Palace
|
15 | -6 | 13 |
18 |
Ipswich
|
15 | -13 | 9 |
19 |
Wolves
|
15 | -15 | 9 |
20 |
Southampton
|
15 | -20 | 5 |