Steve Bruce has admitted that a final pursuit for Chelsea’s Olivier Giroud has been unsuccessful, according to reports.
With the Magpies desperate for goals in the second half of the campaign, a forward has undoubtedly been on the wishlist for the United boss, though it is looking more and more likely that they will have to stick with Joelinton, Andy Carroll and Dwight Gayle.
While speaking to talkSPORT, the Newcastle manager allegedly told the outlet that they had failed in a bid to sign the World Cup winner and that he believes that the striker will be going “elsewhere”.
With the player seemingly wanting out at Chelsea, many fans will be disappointed that they couldn’t pull off the signing – even if it was never particularly likely in coming off.
So far this season, goals from the men at the top of the pitch have been a huge problem, with just one league goal coming from a striker. Since Joelinton scored the winner against Spurs back in August, no striker has scored in the league, so you can understand why the club were going after other forwards.
Are you annoyed we haven't signed a striker?
Yes, one was needed
Nope let's get behind Joelinton
There’s no doubt that Giroud would have added a wealth of experience to the club’s attacking line up and also would have been able to bring others into play very well, but whether he could start banging them in regularly is a whole different question.
Yes, Joelinton only has one goal in 24 all season, but he hasn’t exactly had a wealth of clear cut chances, either. According to stats from SofaScore, the striker has missed six ‘big chances’, which, when you consider he has played in every game for the club this season, isn’t particularly impressive. Of course, you make chances yourself too, however, it is clear that with Steve Bruce’s set up that chances are few and far between for the Newcastle forwards – so there isn’t a guarantee for goals with any striker they buy.
It now seems as if they will have to stick it out with the Brazillian forward, which could end up paying off as he needs time to grow in confidence at this level. They might not finish as high as they would have with Giroud, but given they have a nice buffer on the relegation zone, then perhaps the short term signing of the Frenchman on huge wages might not have had the biggest impact in the long run.