Newcastle battling Spurs for Folarin Balogun - but do we need a striker?
Another transfer link, and this time it’s a striker? It doesn’t feel like what we need right now, but we’ve been told an attacker is wanted, so here we are.
Now, a name that’s been linked before has come up again. Folarin Balogun, who had a good World Cup for the USA and according to L'Équipe, Tottenham have moved in the last few hours and laid the foundations for a €60m deal for the Monaco striker.
Where Newcastle come into this, however, is that we are one of the clubs said to be “closely interested.” And we have historic interest under Howe, if previous reports are to be believed.
Balogun link returns
L'Équipe reports that Tottenham have "laid the foundations" for talks with Monaco over a roughly £50m deal for Balogun.
At this point, Newcastle’s link seems there mostly because we’ve held an interest before, although they claim we are still in the mix.
With the move now progressing, you would assume someone at Newcastle would be alerted to the situation.
The fee is on the heavy side, and Newcastle don’t feel like they have the space to carry a fourth striker right now. Unless something is set to change on that front very soon.
From a playstyle point of view, Balogun makes sense. He’s mobile, can press, and runs in behind. He had a good season last year, 19 goals in all competitions, with 13 coming from Ligue 1. Any fee will also be inflated, with Arsenal having a sell-on clause of close to 17.5%.
As with any player who has performed well at the World Cup, we’ll be paying a premium for the privilege. It once again feels like a deal with Newcastle’s name attached to it, rather than a deal that could happen. But it’s a link to a position we are looking at.
The striker situation
Whether we want to admit it or not, Newcastle has a striker problem. Wissa has looked sharp, but he’s coming off the back of a horrific season. Osula had a purple patch, and he’s shown flashes of brilliance, but also frustration.
The giraffe in the room is Nick Woltemade. To speak personally, I love him; I think his character about the team is great, and he seems like a lovely lad. But has it worked out so far? Not really. Does he seem like a player that will work for Jaissle? Not really.
Jaissle has already said his position against Valencia is Woltemade’s best, which means Newcastle only have two strikers at the club. But is Nick the best we have in the 10 role? Lewis Miley showed he can deliver a pass in tight spaces last season (once for Nick), but the club probably needs to sign a real “10” to fit Jaissle’s system.
Based on that, Balogun makes some lick of sense, but it feels like it doesn’t happen unless either Osula is sold, or Woltemade is. Right now, 50m+ for a striker doesn’t seem like the deal we need to do.
