One of Newcastle’s top priorities this summer will be to bring in reinforcements up front. Callum Wilson is, without doubt, a phenomenal striker, but unfortunately, Newcastle are lucky if they get half a season out of him, so back up is definitely required.
A number of targets have been reported in recent weeks, some more believable than others. Hugo Ekitike is believed to be practically nailed on at this point, but at only 19 it’s unlikely he will be thrown in at the deep end to spearhead the front line for a full season, so another striker will be on the list. Darwin Nunez is a link that won’t go away, but with the Benfica star wanting Champions League football, Newcastle seems an unlikely destination.
So the Eddie Howe might look a bit closer to home at former Magpie, Ivan Toney who has impressed during his time at Brentford scoring 43 goals in 78 appearances for The Bees. Toney was signed by Newcastle as a hot prospect in 2015 but spent the majority of his tenure at St James’ Park out on loan, only making 4 first team appearances. He was eventually sold to Peterborough for £650k.
Toney and Eriksen: Both linked with Newcastle
Now, The Athletic claim Brentford will be looking for £50m for the 26-year-old, which is quite frankly, insane. A figure like this is just a numerical middle finger to any interested clubs as Toney isn’t even an England international – a tag which commands such a price. Newcastle would have to be extremely desperate to fork out £49.5m more than what they sold him for.
One thing this does show, however, is how little the previous regime knew about football.