36 goals in 39 games: Newcastle’s ‘special’ striker target hits 34-minute hat-trick

A striker on Newcastle United’s radar is approaching 40 goals for the season as the Premier League club seeks a centre-forward to bolster Eddie Howe’s offensive ranks.

If you’re wondering why a new striker appears to be one of the club’s top objectives ahead of the summer transfer window, as exclusively documented by HITC Football, Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final loss to Manchester City should provide an answer.

Newcastle United only managed two efforts on goal, one of which was on target, as Eddie Howe’s team limped out of the competition, their lengthy search for trophy set to continue into the next season.

Howe’s misfiring assault squandered the few opportunities they created at the Etihad. Alexander Isak overlooked the greatest of them. And, while Callum Wilson can usually be counted on to convert opportunities, he cannot be counted on to stay fit. The veteran forward has missed 19 games this season owing to various fitness difficulties.

Newcastle United are watching Viktor Gyokeres

Viktor Gyokeres would be warmly welcomed on Tyneside. Perhaps generating a spectacle akin to the one that welcomed Alan Shearer when he returned home to the North East. Gyokeres is, after all, one of the hottest number nines in European football right now, with HITC reporting that Newcastle is one of several clubs sending scouts to Lisbon to observe the powerhouse number nine, who scored 36 goals in 39 games over the weekend.

“He’s improving every day,” Sporting coach Ruben Amorim said after the Swede scored three goals in 34 minutes in Sporting’s 6-1 victory over Boavista. “He has really special skills.”

Meanwhile, the biggest stumbling block for Newcastle is not so much the degree of competition – AC Milan, Chelsea, and Arsenal have all been connected – as the size of Gyokeres’ price tag.

The former Coventry City talisman, who briefly worked for former Newcastle manager Dan Ashworth at Brighton, has an £85 million clause in his Sporting contract, and Amorim insists that offers below that figure would not be considered.

Newcastle may now boast some of the most wealthy supporters in the world of football. However, the Financial Fair Play concerns that have hampered Howe during his second season at the helm make the thought of Gyokeres leading the line in black-and-white next season seem unrealistic.

 

‘Really special skills’

“Gyokeres is breaking records at Sporting and, honestly, I can say he is better than me,” says Manuel Fernandes, a two-time Primeira Liga winner from the 1980s, to A Bola.

“Since I left Sporting (37 years ago), I haven’t seen a more complete striker. There are equals, but who is the better player? No.

“He’s a complete player. He scores and scores. This quality is essential in a striker.

“I hope he doesn’t leave Sporting anytime soon,” Fernandes says of a player who turned down many mid-to-lower-table Premier League clubs before leaving Coventry for Portugal.

“It would be tough for any club to exercise his release clause during the winter season. If you have to go, go to a large club like Liverpool or Bayern Munich.

“But, for the time being, he appears to be doing well at Sporting. “He is a serious, focused player.”