It looks more likely Newcastle will not be buying Salomon Rondon this summer as the Venezuelan is being more heavily linked with West Ham. Now Ayoze Perez has left the club, too, meaning the top two goal scorers from last season have both gone.
It could be safe to assume that without signing any new players, the player next in the goal-scoring chart may get a chance. In Newcastle’s case, this person was Fabian Schar with four goals, and just behind him with three goals was Ciaran Clark.
The evidence demonstrates that this team struggles to score goals, as they only scored 42 in 38 league games last season, with Rondon and Perez netting 23 of them. The fans took to Twitter after the Perez news broke to voice their concerns that the money received for the Spaniard would not be reinvested.
The lack of funds was one of the reasons Rafa Benitez decided not to extend his contract, and with only £50million promised for transfers, it would not be crazy to imagine that Newcastle will be shopping for bargains and loans.
Fernando Llorente , who is valued at £3.15m by Transfermarkt.com, was released by Tottenham and is currently without a club. Although he is 34, he could still make an impact in the Newcastle team. He, like Rondon, is a forward that means more to a team than just scoring goals. Last season Llorente only made six league starts, yet he still scored one goal and provided four assists, according to WhoScored.com.
He came off the bench 14 times but was still able to register 1.2 shots per game and he also won 2.7 aerial duels per game (WhoScored.com). And when you add in Matt Ritchie supplying 1.9 crosses per game and 1.6 long balls per game (WhoScored.com), it would make sense to have someone good in the air to get on the end of those balls.
Llorente would not be a long-term solution because of his age, but even for one season he could do a job for a team such as Newcastle. He is free and his experience in the league would also act as a benefit, rather than buying a player that would need time to settle.
The team could be up against it and time may be something they cannot afford to play with if they are to survive in the league.