One-time Newcastle United and Premier League target Nicolai Jorgensen is still a free agent and hasn’t had a club now for over a year, much to the disappointment of his former Feyenoord coach Jaap Stam.
It spoke volumes about how highly Nicolai Jorgensen was regarded at St James’ Park that Mike Ashley – the club’s despised former owner – was even willing to break a long-standing transfer record to bring him to Tyneside.
Newcastle United offered £15 million for the then-Feyenoord striker back in 2018, and were even prepared to stump up more than the fee they paid Real Madrid for Michael Owen 13 years previously (The Guardian).
With the benefit of hindsight, missing out on Jorgensen feels like a bit of a lucky escape these days. The now-32-year-old targetman has not played professional football since being let go by FC Copenhagen back in June 2022, his former Eredivisie boss Jaap Stam ruing a series of injuries which wrecked his reputation and stalled his career.
Newcastle United could have had Nicolai Jorgensen
“Hopefully he is injury free. He wasn’t always injury free when I worked with him, but he has great quality. So I’m surprised a player like him can’t find a club,” Stam tells Tipsbladet.
“I don’t know if it’s about his salary. Maybe he demands too much money, I don’t know.”
Jorgensen fired Feyenoord to their first Eredivisie title in nearly 20 years to catch the eye of Newcastle United. The towering Denmark international would not come close to matching that 2016/17 tally of 25 in the following years, however, scoring only 14 more times between 2019 and his release from Copenhagen in 2022.
Without a club for 16 months
“If he is still fit and if he is still willing to play at a certain level, then there should be many clubs willing to get him into their team and give him the opportunity to play,” Stam argues. “Because I think he is an excellent guy to work with, and he also has a lot of quality.
“He can make the difference for a lot of clubs.”
Maybe so, but that Newcastle ship has long since sailed for a striker who, if things had worked out differently, could have become the most expensive player in Magpies history.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
