Not many in England were calling Norwegian striker Alexander Sorloth a star before he made a two-year loan move to Trabzonspor in the summer, but many will be now.
The 24-year-old striker has recently been linked to Newcastle United according to reports from Turkish outlet Fotospor, and while he failed to make more than 20 appearances for Crystal Palace – starting just four league games – he has been nothing short of sensational this season in the Super Lig.
After just 21 matches this campaign, the Crystal Palace loanee is currently on course to bring home the Golden Boot, scoring 17 goals. They’ve been crucial too, as the club are currently topping the division by a point with a game in hand. They haven’t won the first division since 1984.
Would Sorloth be worth a punt in the summer?
Yes
No
However, we all know the Premier League is a different animal, so it might be wishful thinking to assume that he could have a similar kind of impact at this level.
With Palace not being able to find a place for him within their squad with their limited attacking options, it appears to have put a few Newcastle fans off him.
Fan account @NUFC360 tweeted about the rumour, to which many fans responded with their opinions – and they don’t seem convinced.
Dont think he will play for a championship team.
— T Hall #FBPE (@Timmychooshoe) February 19, 2020
Fantastic….. palace rejects.
— Cinzano Bianco (@cinzanobianco) February 19, 2020
Scored as many goals this season as Palace have. Sometimes it doesn’t work out for certain players at certain clubs. Doesn’t make them a bad player.
— Ash Sales (@ashsales22) February 19, 2020
I look forward to us overpaying for him and then playing him out of position.
— Lee Charnley’s Lost Soul (@LeesLostSoul) February 19, 2020
Can he be any worse than joelinton..and at a quarter of the price ?
— johnny hope (@HopeJohnny) February 19, 2020
Rather have crouchy come out of retirement
— Alex Maxwell (@MaxwellA98) February 19, 2020
Maybe Bruce is preparing for life in the Championship
— Barry Blakely (@BarryBlakely) February 19, 2020
While Joelinton has been bad, he still has one more Premier League goal than Sorloth has ever had, though he hasn’t had the same opportunities.
Given that Sorloth is likely to join Trabzonspor permanently for around £6m as part of the agreed loan deal, Newcastle will have to pay far more than that amount.
However, it should be noted that he would probably cost less than Vedat Muriqi – another player Steve Bruce’s side are allegedly interested in. The Fenerbahce man has five goals less than Sorloth this season and is a year older.