Newcastle’s Striker Search: 11 Forwards Eddie Howe Could Turn To

Newcastle United are finding it very difficult to sign a striker this summer, so we thought we’d help out by identifying a selection of potential options.

When Newcastle United clinched Champions League football at the end of last season to follow their Carabao Cup success, the future looked bright at St James’ Park. It would not only be easier to hang on to their star players, but the club would also be able to buy new ones from a larger pool given the money and kudos that comes with being involved in Europe’s biggest competition. Or at least, that was the plan.

With less than a month left of the summer transfer window, though, the Magpies find themselves desperately trying to convince star striker Alexander Isak to stay, while also struggling to sign anyone who could perhaps soften the blow should the Swede’s exit prove too difficult to prevent.

There have been links to Liam Delap, João Pedro, Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo, Hugo Ekitiké and Benjamin Sesko this summer, but all have joined, or in Sesko’s case appear to be joining, rival Premier League clubs instead.

Isak remains on Tyneside for now, and the option is always there to insist on him staying despite interest from Liverpool. He has three years remaining on his current contract, but with Callum Wilson having left, Howe surely needs to add another striker regardless.

William Osula could be an option. The 22-year-old recorded five goal involvements (3 goals, 2 assists) for Denmark at the European Under-21 Championship this summer, with only Germany’s Nick Woltemade (9) managing more. But it seems unlikely Howe would head into next season needing to rely heavily on the former Sheffield United man.

There seems to be a growing feeling among Newcastle fans that they will soon be out of options, but we’re here to try and find some alternative strikers who could still improve their squad.

So, with that in mind, here are 11 strikers Newcastle could take a closer look at.

Nicolas Jackson

It seems a little strange to think Chelsea are already willing to move on from Nicolas Jackson, but reports suggest the Senegal international is available for transfer this summer.

The perception that he’s been wasteful in front of goal during his two years in the Premier League could be the main reason, and in fairness, the data somewhat backs it up. Across the top five European leagues since the start of 2023-24, only two players have underperformed their non-penalty expected goals (xG) to a greater extent than Jackson (-7.0).

However, that underperformance does not solely indicate poor finishing, but also that his intelligent movement and pace gets him into excellent positions often, leading to plenty of chances with high xG value. In the last two Premier League seasons, only Erling Haaland, Isak and Mohamed Salah have a higher non-penalty xG total than him (31.0).

Jackson still has a respectable 34 goal involvements (24 goals, 10 assists) in 65 Premier League games, and at just 24, has plenty of time to improve further.

There are questions about his discipline, though he has only been sent off once in the Premier League, which was against Newcastle last season.

Yoane Wissa

One of the strongest links has been to Yoane Wissa, who has reportedly refused to train with Brentford in recent weeks as he has his heart set on a move to Newcastle.

The club had a bid rejected earlier in the window and are yet to return with another, but Wissa is clearly a player they admire, and it’s easy to see why.

The DR Congo international has been yet another success story for Brentford’s data-led approach to recruitment, signing from Lorient in 2021 and scoring 49 goals in 149 games in all competitions in the last four years, the most for the Bees in that time.

He particularly came into his own during the initial suspension of Ivan Toney and following his departure last summer. Only four players have scored more non-penalty goals in the Premier League in the last two seasons than Wissa’s 31.

At the age of 28, he wouldn’t be one for the future, but with a UEFA Champions League campaign to navigate, having an experienced and Premier League proven forward option feels like a sensible move for Howe, especially with the current uncertainty around the squad.

Ollie Watkins

Should Newcastle sign Wissa, perhaps they wouldn’t also go for 29-year-old Ollie Watkins, but the Aston Villa man is another option who would feel like a (almost) guarantee of quality.

Since Watkins signed for Villa in September 2020, only Mohamed Salah (111) and Erling Haaland (85) have scored more Premier League goals than his 75, while only Salah (169) and Son Heung-min (116) have more goal involvements in the competition than his 109.

He had a bit of a weird 2024-25 season, though. Watkins played 43 games in all competitions, recording 31 goal involvements (17G 14A), the most of any Villa player, but he was frustrated by being left on the bench for some big games.

In particular, Unai Emery turned to Marcus Rashford up front for both legs of the Champions League quarter-final with Paris Saint-Germain. Watkins admitted to Sky Sports after that: “I played 20 minutes against PSG in both games. I am not going to lie, I was fuming that I wasn’t playing – I let [Emery] know that.

“It is something I have not experienced before, to miss out on the biggest stage. I wanted to be out on the pitch for much longer. I have played a big part to get to where we are today, and I want to play in those games.”

Should he want to try something new, and perhaps make up for those missed Champions League opportunities, a move north to Newcastle could be a good option.

Gonçalo Ramos

Gonçalo Ramos has been a bit of a forgotten man at PSG, but he was a big-money buy from Benfica in 2023 and still played 41 games last season in all competitions, scoring 18 goals. That total is made more impressive by the fact that only 16 of his games were starts.

We analysed Ramos in this week’s Stat, Viz, Quiz newsletter, noting that his goals-per-game average has been pretty impressive in his two years in France. He found the net every 123 minutes (including added time) there – that’s a better rate than any other PSG player in that time apart from Kylian Mbappé (96 mins).

He’s also scored with 21.3% of his non-penalty shots, higher than teammates Ousmane Dembélé (18.5%), Bradley Barcola (18.7%) and Désiré Doué (19.5%).

No player at PSG has averaged a higher non-pen xG per 90 than Ramos over the last two seasons (0.78), while he is one of only nine players from the top five European leagues with an xG-per-shot average of 0.20 or higher (0.21) out of the 267 to have attempted 100+ non-pen shots in all competitions since the start of 2023-24.

Ramos is a penalty-box striker, and with the strength in depth and quality Newcastle have on the wings to provide plenty of balls into dangerous areas, he is someone you could see working in Howe’s system.

Georges Mikautadze

We all know that you should never base your full opinion on a player on how they perform at an international tournament.

However, while Georges Mikautadze’s form for Georgia at Euro 2024 where he was joint-top scorer (3 goals) did seem a little out of nowhere, his performances for Lyon last season suggested he might just simply be a high-quality player.

In 2024-25, Mikautadze was one of just six nominal centre-forwards across Europe’s top five leagues (900+ minutes) to average at least 2.0 shots (3.5), 0.3 non-pen xG (0.45), 7.0 touches in the opposition’s box (7.7) and 1.0 open-play chances created (1.3) on a per-90 basis.

The 24-year-old is a very good dribbler and can work his way into openings with skill and determination. In 2024-25, he averaged 1.07 goal involvements per 90 in Ligue 1, putting him 11th among all forwards from the top five leagues, scoring 11 and assisting six.

Also, according to our Opta player similarity tool, Mikautadze was the player who profiled most closely to Isak last season, matching 79% of his data in selected metrics.

Dusan Vlahovic

For all the talk of strikers this summer, it has been a bit strange that there haven’t been more links to Dusan Vlahovic. Juventus general manager Damien Comolli recently confirmed: “[Vlahovic] can leave if a suitable offer comes in, but at the moment, it has not arrived,”

Exactly what a “suitable offer” is remains to be seen, but Vlahovic is a player who practically guarantees goals.

In his final two seasons at Fiorentina, the Serbian striker scored 38 goals in 58 Serie A games, earning him a move to Juve in 2022. He hasn’t quite matched that strike rate in Turin, but Vlahovic has still put up very decent numbers, reaching double figures in all three of his full league campaigns at the club. That included 16 goals in the 2023-24 Serie A season, which was only bettered by Inter’s Lautaro Martínez (24).

Vlahovic is still only 25 and has plenty of physicality, so if he’s willing to swap one black and white shirt for another, he could find a welcoming new home in the Premier League.

Moise Kean

We hear you Newcastle fans; why would you want to sign an Everton reject? Well, because he’s fairly good now.

Moise Kean only scored four goals in 37 games for Everton during his time there, even though he did show promise during a loan spell at PSG in 2020-21, with 17 goals in 41 games for the French giants.

He was unable to produce much on his return to Juventus, but a move to Fiorentina last summer has seen Kean find his best form.

He was the second top scorer in Serie A last season with 19 goals in 32 games, while he also managed 24 non-penalty goals in all competitions. That’s as many as Omar Marmoush, Mateo Retegui and Julián Alvarez, and one more than Mohamed Salah; all the more impressive when you consider Kean played at least four fewer games than all of them.

Samu Aghehowa

After his move from Atlético Madrid to Chelsea collapsed last summer, Samu Aghehowa eventually made his way to FC Porto, where he has shone.

The 6-foot-4 striker had impressed on loan at Alavés in 2023-24, which is what led to Chelsea’s interest. However, it is in Portugal where Aghehowa has established himself as one of the brightest young forwards in Europe.

He scored 19 goals in 30 Primeira Liga games last season, with only Viktor Gyökeres (39) managing more. Aghehowa also gets plenty of shots away; only Gyökeres (4.46) and Benfica’s Vangelis Pavlidis (3.32) averaged more shots per 90 in the Portuguese top flight than the Spaniard (3.26) last season.

Aghehowa has already impressed against English opposition as well, scoring twice in Porto’s 3-3 draw with Manchester United in last season’s Europa League.

Lucas Stassin

Should Newcastle look to go even younger, they could do worse than look to France where Lucas Stassin has been impressing.

The Belgian only joined Saint-Etienne from Westerlo last summer, but the move from his homeland to Ligue 1 didn’t seem to phase the 20-year-old.

Stassin scored 12 goals in 28 league games last season, outperforming his xG by 4.1. He also had a shot conversion rate of 27.3%, better even than Isak in the Premier League (23.2%).

In spite of his goals, Saint-Etienne were relegated, so perhaps a deal could be done. After all, Newcastle were interested in Liam Delap before his move to Chelsea, and he also scored 12 league goals for a relegated side last season.

Arnaud Kalimuendo

Another player who impressed in Ligue 1 last season, Arnaud Kalimuendo started his career at PSG, having two decent loan spells with Lens before moving permanently to Rennes in 2022.

He has improved year on year, and last season, managed 17 Ligue 1 goals in 33 games, with only Ousmane Dembélé and Mason Greenwood (both 21) scoring more.

Kalimuendo also does his work out of possession, with only 16 nominal forwards winning possession in the final third more often than him last season in Ligue 1, while his availability is also impressive. The 23-year-old has played at least 29 league games in all five of his seasons in senior football.

He’s not tall at around 5-foot-9, but he is good at receiving the ball with his back to goal, using his strength and skill to either turn defenders, or lay the ball off to a teammate.

Jørgen Strand Larsen

If Newcastle want to stick with the recipe of tall, Premier League proven and Scandinavian, they could look at Jørgen Strand Larsen, even if Wolves fans won’t want them to.

The Norwegian scored 14 goals in 35 Premier League games in his debut season for Wolves in 2024-25, with a shot conversion rate of 25.9%; of players who attempted at least 20 shots in the competition, only Chris Wood (29.4%) had a better conversion rate.

He is also a menace in the air, scoring three headers in the Premier League. Of players who attempted at least 10 headed shots in the competition last season, only Cody Gakpo (70%) and Ollie Watkins (68.4%) had a better percentage of headers test the goalkeeper than Strand Larsen (66.7%).

He has technically only just joined Wolves permanently after being on loan from Celta Vigo last season, but as they only paid a reported £23m, a bid of around double that would surely test their resolve.

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