Why Yoane Wissa should be Newcastle's next signing

As things stand, the striker situation at Newcastle United is a bit of a mess.

Going into a Champions League campaign, we currently only have one ‘senior’ striker actively playing for the club in young Will Osula, with Alexander Isak unlikely to play another game for Newcastle United ever again. 

The sale of Isak is, quite rightly, dependent on whether or not we bring in at least one quality forward to replace him. Currently, our priority seems to be bringing in Benjamin Sesko, for whom we are currently in a tug of war for with Manchester United.

Sesko would be a major coup for  Newcastle, which would also be particularly important for improving our current reputation and standing in world football following numerous rejections from players in favour of the 'big six' clubs. Beating Manchester United to a player would be a major statement, and Sesko himself certainly appears to have a very high ceiling. However, I personally believe our priorities may not be entirely in order.

Given the impending and, likely, inevitable departure of Isak, I believe Newcastle United's number one priority this summer should be to sign Brentford forward Yoane Wissa. That may sound odd, but let me explain why we'd be wise to get this one done first.

Firstly, especially given the aforementioned lack of players who have wanted to join the club this summer, Wissa has made it abhorrently clear that he wants to play for Newcastle United. There is no doubt he is looking over his shoulder at other, perhaps more lucrative suitors, and that desire to join the club is in and of itself a vital trait.

More importantly, Wissa might genuinely be one of the most underrated strikers to play in the Premier League in my lifetime. Perhaps it’s down to the fact he does not represent a flashy team or nation, or mainly due to his slightly older age than most teams usually pursue in the transfer market, but his Premier League proven goal scoring ability is absolutely outstanding. With 19 Premier League goals last season, none of them from the spot, Wissa was the second highest non penalty goalscorer in the league last season, ahead of the £150 million pound Alexander Isak, and only behind Liverpool's Mo Salah.

Some fans have responded somewhat negatively, or at least nowhere near as positively as I believe they should have, to our pursuit of Wissa mainly down to his age.

Wissa is 28, soon to be 29, and admittedly is unlikely to turn a profit. However, we have no intention of becoming a selling club, and it’s not as if 28 is anywhere near the end of a player's career.

Some of the best strikers in world football right now include a 36 year old Robert Lewandowski, who is still putting up astronomical numbers in La Liga for Barcelona, and a 32 year old Harry Kane, who has won back to back golden boots since arriving in the Bundesliga. That’s without even mentioning Mohammed Salah, who is still arguably the best player in the world at 33 years of age. I doubt there’s any fan of Bayern, Barcelona or Liverpool who is overly concerned about the resale value of any of their star forwards.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand how signing a young striker from abroad for a club record fee is more exciting than a 28 year old Brentford striker we are all a bit more familiar with. Let’s be honest, the fact 95% of us haven’t seen Sesko play more than a few games (other than in a YouTube goals compilation) almost makes him more exciting than a proven Premiership player, given the excitement that comes with the unknown.

In an ideal world, of course, we would bring both strikers into the club, and I pray that is still the intention. However, given just how instrumental Alexander Isak was in both our league and cup success last season, I believe signing somebody who has proved themselves capable of matching his tally in the Premier League should be priority number one, even at the expense of ‘resale value’.