Where will Newcastle United’s striker search take them next?
The Magpies were in the race to sign Benjamin Šeško, even agreeing a £70m fee with RB Leipzig, but the Slovenian chose to move to Manchester United instead, a transfer that was officially announced on Saturday morning.
So now, has Eddie Howe identified his latest top target?
Newcastle's striker search
It’s been a busy summer in terms of Newcastle United strikers, both in terms of players at the club, as well as ones they’d like to bring to Tyneside.
Callum Wilson was released earlier this summer, while Alexander Isak is yet to feature in pre-season, as he aims to force through a move to Liverpool although, as reported by Luke Edwards of the Telegraph, the Swede has been informed he ‘will not be allowed’ to move this summer, the latest twist to this saga that is drawing no closer to a conclusion.
Meantime, on top of Šeško, the Magpies have failed in their attempts to sign fellow strikers João Pedro, Liam Delap, Hugo Ekitiké and Matheus Cunha, all of whom have joined Premier League rivals, while they’ve also seen a £25m bid for Yoane Wissa rejected by Brentford.
Sam Tabuteau of the Evening Standard believes that the Magpies are ‘preparing a fresh bid’ for the DR Congo international, but should they go for a different striker from within the Premier League?
Well, according to Ed Aarons of the Guardian, Newcastle currently lead the race to sign Nicolas Jackson from Chelsea, adding that the Senegalese striker has informed the Blues of his desire to leave, falling down the pecking order following the arrivals of the aforementioned Pedro and Delap.
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Aarons adds that Jackson has ‘trained alone’ at Cobham, valued at around £80m by Chelsea, albeit the Blues are ready to ‘accept’ a fee closer to £65m.
So, could Jackson soon swap West London for the North East?
How Nicolas Jackson would improve Newcastle
Despite often being widely ridiculed, Jackson’s statistics since arriving at Chelsea two summers ago are largely impressive.
He scored 17 goals during his debut campaign in England, before adding a further 13 goals to his tally last time round, despite sitting out around three months of the campaign due to a hamstring injury.
Jacek Kulig of Football Talent Scout labels him an “extraordinary” talent, while Moe Adikwu of Breaking the Lines praises his work rate and ‘ability to get into goal-scoring positions’, projecting he will become a ‘top striker’.
Liam Twomey and Mark Carey of the Athletic agree, outlining his ‘excellent’ pressing, with Ed Dove of ESPN documenting how Chelsea’s form nosedived during his injury last season, describing his ‘broader contribution… without the ball’ as invaluable.
So, would Jackson be a better signing than Newcastle’s other target, Wissa?
Let’s compare the pair to find out.
Appearances
65
69
Minutes
5,050
5,437
Goals
24
31
Assists
10
9
Shots
2.8
2.61
Shots on target %
46.2%
41.4%
Goals – xG
-7
+1.9
Shot-creating actions
164
133
Touches
30
28
% of touches in the box
17%
17%
As the table documents, Jackson and Wissa are stylistically very similar players, emphasised by the fact they accumulate a very similar number of touches per-90, registering an identical percentage of these touches in the opposition’s penalty area.
Jackson’s most eye-catching statistic is the fast he has underperformed his expected goals by seven across the last two Premier League seasons, missing a whopping 43 Opta-defined big chances, which is significantly more than anybody else.
Flipping that into a positive, it proves that the Senegal international is getting into good positions but just not taking these chances, a skillset he could improve in the future.
Still only 24 years old, while Wissa’s 29th birthday is coming up next month, Jackson would represent the more shrewd investment from Newcastle, given that the pair are pretty similar in quality at this very moment, but the current Chelsea forward has the potential to become one of the best strikers in the Premier League in the longer terms.
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