Are Newcastle United about to make an expensive mistake?
According to The Chronicle, Newcastle United are interested in signing Feyenoord striker Nicolai Jorgensen.
The report claims that the goal-shy Magpies are keen on the 27-year-old – who is valued at around £20 million – and owner Mike Ashley has sanctioned the transfer.
But if Newcastle fans have any reservations about signing an Eredivisie striker, it’s for good reason.
Alan Pardew signed Luuk De Jong on a half-season loan four years ago, but the Dutchman failed to score in any of his 12 Premier League outings and was not missed when he returned to Borussia Monchengladbach.
However, De Jong, during his most recent Eredivisie season prior to joining the St James’s Park club, smashed 29 goals in 34 games for FC Twente and considering Jorgensen’s stats in the Dutch top flight are not as impressive, it makes you wonder if Benitez is about to spend a lot of money on a flop.
Jorgensen has netted 34 goals and 20 assists in 63 games for Feyenoord across all competitions over the past two seasons, which isn’t a bad record, but De Jong has 132 goals and 77 assists in 268 games for PSV and Twente.
Jorgensen’s goal-to-game ratio is slightly better, but the disparity isn’t great enough to suggest he can succeed where De Jong failed in the Premier League.
There is very little margin for error for Newcastle in regards to finding the right striker. Benitez’s side are only a point above the relegation zone and they need goals in a major way, but although Jorgensen might bring other positives to the Magpies’ forward line, is he going to bring goals?
That’s the only question worth asking, given Newcastle’s precarious situation in the Premier League, and it doesn’t bode well that one of their worst signings in recent memory holds his own with a striker who Newcastle are reportedly willing to break their club-record transfer fee on.
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