Paul Merson slates Newcastle's latest piece of transfer business - "I cannot believe it..."

Paul Merson is ‘flabbergasted’ by Newcastle's decision to let Chris Wood leave, as he ‘cannot believe’ we sanctioned his loan exit before signing a replacement.

The deal includes an obligation to buy for £15m should he meet certain requirements, but the Sky Sports pundit is shocked that we’ve let him go without replacing him first.

The 54-year-old has claimed he was surprised to see Newcastle put all of their hopes on Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson remaining fit, both of which have struggled this season with injuries.

Despite Wood scoring just four league goals in 34 games, the Kiwi was a consummate professional and someone you could rely on to ‘do the job’ as a third choice forward.

However, it is very unlikely that Newcastle, especially under this new regime, would let someone like Wood leave without being confident of who they are bringing in to replace him.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Merson said: “Honestly, flabbergasted. I like Wilson and Isak. But one’s been out [for] a long time injured [and] the other one, you don’t seem to get a run of games – Wilson – where he’s fit consistently.

“Wood comes in and does the job. He comes across as a good pro. Not just that, he’s at the other end, as well, when he’s defending. When they’re keeping clean sheets, it’s not luck – they defend corners very well. He comes back [and] he clears stuff.

“For what they’re selling him for, I cannot believe it. It wouldn’t surprise me in three weeks’ time if the two centre-forwards were injured and they haven’t got a forward to put on upfront… If you’re Newcastle, you do the business first and then you get rid of Wood.”

We have recently been heavily linked with a move for Everton’s Anthony Gordon, but it remains to be seen who we'll bring in with less than a week remaining to do business.