Newcastle United won two games of football last week, thumping Benfica in the Champions League before rallying late on at home against Fulham at the weekend to claim three points in the Premier League.
Three much-needed points. Newcastle had only won two of their opening eight top-flight fixtures beforehand, and Eddie Howe’s side were clearly suffering as a by-product of the drawn-out summer Alexander Isak saga.
Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa have arrived at St. James’ Park to replace the Sweden star, and the former is firing on all cylinders, with five goals from his first ten Magpies outings in all competitions. His general play has impressed everyone at the club, and the entire fanbase besides.
But the 29-year-old Wissa has yet to make his debut as he recovers from a knee injury. The former Brentford star is slated to return in the coming weeks.
Despite this, there are a curious number of reports suggesting the Toon are considering adding to their forward ranks next year.
Newcastle eyeing another striker
Newcastle are showing signs of progress after a stodgy start to the season from an attacking standpoint. Woltemade hit the ground running after his £69m club-record move from Stuttgart, but the overall fluency had fallen from its former level.
With Bruno Guimaraes leading the creative resurgence and the likes of Anthony Gordon starting to find their form, there’s a sense that Newcastle’s strikers could hit lofty levels in the coming years.
While it may seem like Newcastle are well stocked at number nine, William Osula is expected to depart if he cannot establish regular minutes, and how Wissa will fare is as yet uncertain.
Because of this, Caught Offside believe technical director Ross Wilson is preparing a bumper bid for Brentford centre-forward Igor Thiago, who has been in fine fettle so far this season.
The Magpies are getting ready to lodge a €40m (£35m) offer for the Brazilian, though it’s felt more would be needed to convince the Bees to pay up. Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur are also interested.
Brentford are under no financial pressure to cash in, and thus Thiago may only leave if the Bees lose their sting and sink into the second tier at the end of the season.
What Igor Thiago would bring to Newcastle
Admittedly, Newcastle don’t need three top-class strikers in the long run. Not with Osula still making his presence known and with the likes of youngster Sean Neave just waiting to announce himself.
But if Wissa fails to make the grade after an injury-hit start to life on Tyneside, Thiago would be a compelling replacement, having rebounded from an injury-hit debut year at Brentford to make a prolific start to the new campaign under Keith Andrews’ management.
Six goals from nine Premier League matches is what he has, and despite his prolific returns, his manager has praised him as a “selfless” forward who “always puts the team first”.
The 24-year-old has also completed 60% of his dribbles this season while winning 5.4 duels per game, as per Sofascore, demonstrating his robustness and the desire to get stuck in and contribute.
Key virtues for a striker in a Howe set-up, right?
Hailed by Sky Sports’ Dougie Critchley for being “relentless in his work rate”, there’s little question that Thiago boasts the energy and tenacity to make waves under Howe’s wing.
FBref highlight this perfectly, showcasing the striker’s defensive qualities across the early Premier League campaign. What’s most curious is his likeness to Woltemade, with both physical and rangy forward blessed with more technical skill than might be apparent at a glance.
Goals scored
0.73
0.75
Assists
0.00
0.00
Touches (att pen)
3.64
4.53
Shots taken
2.43
2.26
Shot-creating actions
1.82
1.51
Pass completion (%)
71.0
76.9
Progressive passes
0.85
1.70
Progressive carries
0.49
0.57
Successful take-ons
0.73
0.57
Ball recoveries
1.58
2.64
Tackles + interceptions
1.58
1.51
Aerial duels won
3.27
1.51
With both stars eager to progress the ball and get stuck in defensively, you can see why Howe has been sold after the early weeks of the campaign.
Woltemade’s link-up play is one of his defining assets on the field. In this, he is similar to the ‘selfless’ Thiago, and it’s curious to note that both stars have enjoyed clinical starts to the season regardless.
Level on six goals with Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo, Thiago has only been outscored in the top flight this term by the unstoppable Erling Haaland, who is on 11 strikes.
They are not carbon copies, though, these two strikers. This could work to the advantage of Howe’s project, to be sure, providing equally dynamic forwards to bounce off the likes of Gordon and Anthony Elanga, who has still not got going this season, willing to serve as physical focal points and use crisp passing to play the fleet-footed wingers through.
One of the staples of Howe’s Newcastle project is the collective ability to weather adversity and bounce back stronger. Thiago looks tailor-made in this regard, having featured so little last year under Thomas Frank as he recovered from that knee injury, and yet having played with such confidence and quality across the opening months of the season.
While it doesn’t seem likely that Newcastle would spend a pretty penny on a striker like Thiago without first cutting some costs, he’s been earmarked and has the talent and playing style to become a major player under Howe’s wing down the line.