Newcastle will be happy to see their man Adam Armstrong thriving at Barnsley following his loan move, but some might be questioning whether the club did the right thing in letting the youngster go.
Armstrong scored again for Barnsley in their 2-1 defeat to Reading.
The next step in Armstrong’s career was always going to be a year in the Championship, having been a huge success at Coventry in League One during the last campaign. Relegation for the Toon Army, however, posed a problem for the 19-year-old.
There was no doubt that Armstrong would be able to score goals at Championship level, so it put Newcastle in a position where they felt obliged to loan out one of their top players to a divisional promotional rival.
Coventry’s Adam Armstrong shoot at goal
Adam Armstrong scored 20 goals last season for Coventry
With Daryl Murphy and Dwight Gayle joining Aleksandar Mitrovic and Ayoze Perez as strikers, opportunities at Newcastle for Armstrong were always going to be limited.
The England Under-20 International has made an impressive start in South Yorkshire, scoring two incredible goals. His first came on his debut against Preston, bagging the winner by back heeling the ball round the defender and bending the ball around the keeper to give his new side all three points.
His second came in the 2-1 defeat against Reading, but his volley was definitely the stand out goal of the game. The goal came on a day when Newcastle were beaten 2-0 by Wolves, and despite winning 6-0 during the week against QPR, offered very little threat going forward.
Leicester’s Paul Konchesky in action with Newcastle’s Adam Armstrong
Gayle was isolated up top, Mitrovic started on the Newcastle bench and Perez was shocking out wide. Mo Diame was yet again chosen to play behind the striker, but provided little to no threat in a position where Armstrong would thrive.
Armstrong has shown with his goals that he has the quality to perform at this level, and with Newcastle still looking to find their best combination up front, the answer might be in Barnsley.
It’s too early to suggest it was a mistake letting Armstrong go, and the experience he is gaining will only benefit Newcastle in the future, but his impressive starts does beg the question – could he be scoring goals in black and white right now?
Newcastle United Manager Rafael Benitez
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