Nottingham Forest are said to be in talks with Newcastle United over a deal for New Zealand international, Chris Wood.
The mooted deal is a loan until the end of the season with an option to buy. This is according to Sky Sports transfer guru Dharmesh Sheth.
“I’m told that this is really close to happening.
“This could be a clever deal for Newcastle as if he does well at Nottingham Forest, they might want that option to buy. If they don’t stay in the Premier League, but he still plays quite well, then his market value will still be quite high.
“If you remember, this time last year he signed a two-and-a-half year contract joining from Burnley. They spent £20-25m on him, they would want to recoup some of that money back. They think this is the best way to do that,
“He has only started four Premier League games and Alexander Isak is back to compete with Callum Wilson up front.”
While this does look like a good deal – let’s be honest Wood hasn’t exactly been pulling up trees (sorry) at Newcastle. His goalscoring record is certainly not that of someone worth £25m that’s for sure. There are some issues.
It has been said a million times before that he’s not at the level we are aiming for, but it was a good deal last year as it strengthened our squad whilst weakening a relegation rival. Additionally he has always been available to provide cover when our main striker(s) have been absent which is the one issue I have with this deal.
Letting Chris Wood leave puts us down to two recognised strikers, both of whom haven’t had the best time with injuries since joining Newcastle. We know that Callum Wilson breaks down easily and often, so it’s like we’re putting all our faith in the fact that Alexander Isak’s injury was just a one-off case of bad luck.
Of course we have Allan Saint-Maximin and Joelinton who have both played as a striker for us in the past, but they, like Wood aren’t exactly goal machines.
That being said, I’d say Wood is surplus to requirements purely on the basis that he’s simply not good enough for a club sitting third in the league. A move to Nottingham Forest could be good for all parties. Leeds United were also said to be interested in the striker, but nothing has moved on that front.