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Newcastle found their dream right winger but now face awkward truth after £450m spend

Michael Olise and, inset,  Newcastle United CEO Darren Eales and sporting director Paul Mitchell
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


It's funny how football works. Only Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool scored more goals than Newcastle (85) in the Premier League last season. In contrast, this time around, only four teams have been less prolific in the top-flight in the opening months of the campaign.

Even bottom of the table Wolves have been more clinical. Newcastle, remarkably, have failed to score from open play in more than a month and the Magpies were unable to find the back of the net full stop in their last two games, against Brighton and Everton, despite unleashing 35 shots, taking 87 touches in the box and having an XG of four.

Where do you even start? Anthony Gordon missed a penalty on his return to Goodison Park; Bruno Guimaraes had a volley cleared off the line; Joelinton skied an effort over the bar from inside the box; and Gordon failed to find the target from a tight angle when played through late on versus his former club.

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Against Brighton, a couple of weeks later, Joelinton sent a header wide; Jacob Murphy inadvertently got in the way of Isak's shot; Isak failed to beat Bart Verbruggen one-on-one and had another chance pushed away; and Gordon headed over from inside the box, had a shot palmed away and later fired an effort straight at the goalkeeper after being played through.

On both occasions, Newcastle could have kept playing for another half an hour and still the Magpies would not have scored, but should these issues in front of goal come as a huge surprise? Isak's start to the campaign has been disrupted by a toe injury. Newcastle have been without Callum Wilson, who has averaged a goal nearly every two games for the club...when the veteran has actually been fit. And Gordon, who was among a number of players to make a slow start to the campaign, even had to fill in up front on a couple of occasions.

However, the clinical edge that we associated with this side not so long ago has deserted them. Isak, Joelinton, Harvey Barnes and Gordon have taken 61 shots combined this season yet the quartet have only scored seven goals while Fabian Schar has been Newcastle's only other goal scorer in the top-flight. Isak and Gordon have just three goal involvements to their name having been directly involved in eight more in the opening eight league games of last season.

Dig deeper and Newcastle have missed a dozen big chances all told in the Premier League, which Opta define as a situation where a player should reasonably be expected to score, usually in a one-on-one scenario or from very close range when the ball has a clear path to goal and there is low to moderate pressure on the shooter. As obvious as it sounds, if only a fraction of these opportunities had been taken against Brighton and Everton, the black-and-whites would be level on points with title-chasing Arsenal. Such are the margins at this level.

Newcastle are at least creating openings - Eddie Howe and his staff would be more worried if that was not the case - but it feels like results have evened out a little. Whereas Newcastle were digging out wins when the black-and-whites were nowhere near their best earlier this season, recently, the Magpies have played better in patches but have only picked up two points from a possible 12.

At a time when Newcastle's defence has actually tightened up - only Liverpool and Nottingham Forest have conceded fewer goals this season - the issue is obvious. Alan Shearer, who knows a thing or two about finding the back of the net, said Newcastle have been 'really poor in forward positions' and the club's all-time leading goal scorer suggested one of the reasons why the Magpies wanted to bring in another right-sided forward was 'because of that'.

Michael Olise was a player Newcastle United understandably liked
Michael Olise was a player Newcastle United understandably liked

One such target, of course, was Michael Olise, a dream signing, who ultimately joined Bayern Munich last summer. This is a player who already has nine goal involvements in all competitions for the Bundesliga giants. This is a player who illustrates the small pool Newcastle are fishing in - but also the competition the black-and-whites face for genuine game-changers who want to play in the Champions League.

"There were attacking areas that we were looking to strengthen," Howe said. "But we didn’t end up achieving success in those positions."

The right wing, of course, is the one area that Newcastle have not strengthened in the six windows since the takeover three years ago. For context, in that time, Newcastle have signed four senior goalkeepers and spent upwards of £450m.

Finding the right player has not proved straightforward given the costs involved, and the other areas that have been prioritised in that time, but you have to go back to December for Miguel Almiron's last goal involvement in the Premier League. Jacob Murphy, who finished the previous campaign strongly, has set up more goals than any other Newcastle player this season in the top-flight, including Alexander Isak's winner against Spurs, but it is a reflection of the Magpies' issues in front of goal that the forward only has two assists to his name and has yet to get on the score sheet in the opening months of the campaign.

Top scorer Harvey Barnes, who has bagged three goals, has not found the back of the net in a month and Howe appears reluctant to start the 26-year-old out on the right, given his preference to cut in from the left, or to shove Gordon out there from the off for a consistent run of games. If a viable solution cannot be found in-house - however awkward it may be to accept - 2025 has to be the year Newcastle finally act in the transfer market and sign a natural quality right winger. Surely.