Steve Bruce’s Premier League strugglers Newcastle United reportedly want to sign Yussuf Poulsen from Bundesliga leaders RB Leipzig.
Few players have divided opinion at Newcastle United in recent years quite like Ayoze Perez.
But while the St James’ faithful were often split down the middle by a forward who tended to flit between unplayable and anonymous, it’s telling that almost everyone on Tyneside was united in the opinion that taking £30 million from Leicester City was verging on ‘daylight robbery’ territory (BBC).
Yes, Perez ended last season with 13 goals in all competitions while adding a buzz and thrust to an often one-paced Rafa Benitez front line. But £30 million for a man who netted just twice in his first 22 Premier League games in 2018/19 before papering over the cracks of inconsistency with a late-season splurge? That’s the definition of a smart business decision.
And with Perez yet to score in Leicester colours and with fans at the King Power starting to get on his back, his colossal price-tag is starting to look even more questionable.
And in Yussuf Poulsen, Newcastle might have discovered a player capable of replicating Perez’s all-action style in the final third for a whole season, rather than a few short weeks in the spring.
According to the Express, the Magpies are long-time admirers of a Danish international who joined Bundesliga leaders RB Leipzig when they were beginning their journey all the way down in the third tier.
Poulsen is the very definition of a late-bloomer. After netting just nine times in his first two Bundesliga seasons, the 6ft 4ins powerhouse produced 19 goals and eight assists in all competitions last season – as many as his much-vaunted strike partner Timo Werner.
And while the 2019/20 campaign has started much slower with just a single strike so far, a tally of six assists in six matches proves that Poulsen is about more than just finding the net himself.
He’s taller and far more physical than Perez, who was often forced onto the periphery by more aggressive opposition, and can play through the middle as well as in a wider, more withdrawn role.
Poulsen is the perfect player to lead the line in Steve Bruce’s lone-striker system and, whisper it, he could perhaps coax that enigmatic talent out of a lost-looking Miguel Almiron should the Paraguayan take up something of a roaming, Werner-role.
In short, Poulsen is everything Newcastle fans desperately wanted Perez to be.
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