West Bromwich Albion striker Charlie Austin has revealed just how close he came to joining Newcastle United.
The 30-year-old has always been a player that has been among the goals, no matter what club he has featured for over the years. During the current campaign, he has scored nine goals in his first 30 appearances after his £4m summer move from Southampton.
Austin has an impressive CV when it comes to his record with the clubs he’s played for. He has managed to score over 20 goals for every team that he’s played for apart from the Baggies.
Would Charlie Austin have been a better option than Aleksandar Mitrovic?
Yes
No
Steve McClaren, who the boss of the Magpies at the time, opted to sign Aleksandar Mitrovic for £13m in 2015, which very nearly did not happen due to business elsewhere.
Answering a question from @nufclewizc on Twitter, and after being linked with a move to us all summer, Austin unveiled how close he was to brandishing the black and white shirt for the 2015/16 campaign.
Done on my side
— Charlie Austin (@chazaustin10) April 18, 2020
Austin stayed at QPR, the club he was playing for at the time, and went on to score 47 goals and provided 11 assists in 89 appearances. Meanwhile, Mitrovic scored nine Premier League goals in 34 outings but it wasn’t enough to keep us up as we were relegated to the Championship, along with hated neighbours Sunderland and Aston Villa.
Would our fortunes have been any different with Austin in the side than Mitrovic? Probably not. No matter who we had upfront that season, we had such a dismal defensive record having conceded 65 goals and kept just eight clean sheets.
The damage had already been done before the campaign even began due to not bolstering our strength at the back. Having said that, it would have been an interesting concept to see how Austin would have done in the Magpies’ front line.