A Premier League switch appeals to Newcastle United target Wout Weghorst but, according to BILD, securing a work permit may be an issue in the post-Brexit era.
Well, it was more like a ‘new manager hop’ than a ‘new manager bounce’.
Wolfsburg won their first three games after hiring Florian Kohfeldt as Mark Van Bommel’s replacement in October. Since then, they’ve lost six in a row, finishing bottom of their Champions League group and slipping further and further away from the chasing pack.
Wolfsburg were top of the Bundesliga table in mid-September. Three months on, they’re 11th, seven points adrift of the top four.
No wonder Weghorst, an ambitious, outspoken and very ‘Dutch’ character, is considering his future ahead of the January transfer window.
Can Weghorst help Newcastle survive?
According to Kicker, Newcastle see the former Eredivisie hitman as someone capable of adding some extra firepower to Eddie Howe’s relegation-threatened squad.
The numbers certainly add credence to that theory.
The Dutch international has broken the 20-goal barrier in three of his last four seasons. In total, he’s scored 115 goals in 226 games since leaving Heracles for AZ Alkmaar in the summer of 2016.
Competition for Callum Wilson
BILD reports that Weghorst, who has been linked with Arsenal, West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur in recent windows, would relish the prospect of a move to England.
How he feels about joining a Newcastle side level on points with Norwich City at the bottom of the table remains to be seen.
The report adds that Weghorst has a market value of around £17 million. He has changed his agent too in an attempt to secure a move away from Wolfsburg.
His new representatives, Sports360, also count Newcastle defender Fabian Schar among their list of clients.
Stringent, post-Brexit work-permit regulations may prove a problem, however.
A move to Italy, with Jose Mourinho’s Roma, would be somewhat simpler to secure.
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