Journalist now confirms Newcastle United will be looking to recruit another striker this summer
Eddie Howe spent £124 million to bring in two new strikers for Newcastle United in the summer after losing Callum Wilson and Alexander Isak, but things haven't gone according to plan.
Well, unless the plan was to leave £124 million of talent on the bench while a winger plays as centre-forward, or the £15 million striker nobody is quite sure about starts ahead of them, then it's going exactly to plan.
Newcastle's record signing, Nick Woltemade, started strong, but it didn't take long for opposition teams to work him out, and he's since been rendered completely ineffectual.
Meanwhile, Yoane Wissa's injury kept him out of training with the team, and when he returned to fitness, there have been no breaks in the fixture schedule to actually take part in proper training sessions, so he's still miles behind where he needs to be.
Newcastle have their eye on Italian tank Pio Esposito
What happens with the two summer signings at the end of the season is anyone's guess, but Craig Hope has confirmed in his Newcastle Confidential column that the club will be looking to recruit a new striker ahead of next season.
Hope believes Liam Delap, who was snatched up by Chelsea from under our noses in the summer, could be one to keep an eye on, although there's no indication that Chelsea is willing to sell.
He also mentioned Dominic Solanke, who was linked with the Toon last week, but Hope also named Inter Milan's Pio Esposito as a player of interest, but believes that the asking price could put Newcastle off after Inter already rejected a £42 million offer for the 20-year-old.
Newcastle should be giving Will Osula another season at the club, at least
We still hope that we don't give up on Nick Woltemade. We are convinced there's a top player in there; it just remains to be seen whether he can integrate into the way Newcastle plays.
We're not so sentimental about Wissa, but we've not seen enough of him to form any kind of attachment, and what we have seen is miles off what we saw for Brentford.
Whatever happens with that duo, we definitely feel the club is making the right decision to bring in another striker. WE also think we should keep hold of Will Osula for at least another season to see if we can knock the eccentricity out of him a bit and improve his decision-making, because if we can do that, he could be a baller.
I need to go and lie down in a dark room and think about what I've just done. Using the word 'baller'. What's next? Banging on about xG? I've made myself sick here. Sorry.
