Luis Suarez update - Craig Hope responds to £50m Newcastle links

Newcastle United are looking to add extra firepower to the ranks ahead of next season after a pretty barren season in front of goal.

Despite forking out £124 million on two new strikers last summer, the bulk of Newcastle's goals have come from the midfield from players who were already at the club.

Anthony Gordon, Harvey Barnes and Bruno Guimaraes have been the most prolific players for the Magpies this season, and their numbers aren't anything to write home about from a striker's perspective, albeit decent hauls for midfielders.

Eddie Howe is hoping that he can get his flops firing next season with plenty of time on the training pitch between seasons, but it's understood that Newcastle will not be taking the risk without a contingency plan and will look to bring in a new striker in the summer. 

Luis Suarez is not a target for Newcastle

Sporting's Luis Suarez has been repeatedly linked with a move to Newcastle over the past month, with a recent report from Portugal suggesting the Magpies have made a move already for the Colombian.

However, The Mail’s Craig Hope reports that this is not true and that Newcastle, while aware of Suarez, aren't currently planning a move for the 28-year-old.

Hope says that a move isn't impossible, but his age and £50 million price tag don't fit with the club's summer plans and that recent reports of a bid are 'nonsense'.

We called it!

A couple of days before the story broke about the alleged bid, we gave the rumour a rating of 4/10 for the very reasons Craig Hope just gave. At 28, he's simply too old for the current transfer strategy.

Even after Record reported the bid, we still weren't convinced.

While £50 million is less than the £69 million release clause that was mentioned before, that's still a much higher fee than we expect to see Newcastle splash out on any one player this year.

He's an exciting player, no doubt. His goals haul this season has been insanely good, but the Portuguese league isn't the Premier League and were he to move to England, there's nothing to say he'd repeat that feat, and he's too old to take that kind of a big risk on. 

Lessons have to be learned from forking out £55 million on a 28-year-old striker last year!