One of the biggest stories of the summer was around Newcastle United’s striker situation, as it looked inevitable that their talisman, Alexander Isak, was going to complete a British transfer record move to Premier League champions Liverpool.
The deal’s biggest sticking point was finding a replacement for Isak, and Eddie Howe’s side eventually found two with Stuttgart’s Nick Woltemade and Brentford’s Yoane Wissa. Between them, it looked like they could make up Isak’s goals, but it hasn’t been the smoothest start to life in the North East for the new strikers.
Wissa picked up a knee injury during the international break and is yet to make his debut. The DR Congo player has been ruled out for at least Newcastle’s next matches, and his debut may come after the next international break.
When asked why Woltemade received less than 30 minutes of game time against Barcelona, Howe cited it as being the result of Wissa’s injury, alongside Anthony Gordon’s suspension from the Liverpool game. The lack of options has meant that Woltemade has been handled delicately to ensure they aren’t left without any attackers.
While the two new attackers had previously looked sufficient to replace Isak, the opening weeks of the season have demonstrated how quickly Newcastle could be left shorthanded. Due to this, the club are already looking ahead to January to deepen their attacking roster.
Newcastle's Endrick loan plan
Newcastle are looking at bringing in Brazilian striker Endrick on loan from Real Madrid as a solution to their attacking frailties. The 19-year-old is yet to play a minute of football this season under Xabi Alonso and Madrid, alongside Endrick’s party, are concerned that a lack of minutes may hamper his development.
Reports from Spain indicate that this could be the perfect match that provides all parties with what they need. Newcastle are reportedly looking for “a young, dynamic offensive reinforcement hungry for success”, and Endrick is looking to gain more experience and can do so against the notoriously strong defences of the Premier League. In fact, the Magpies are one of the ‘among the first to inquire about his availability’, making an approach to Madrid in the process.
Endrick cost Madrid around £41.4 million, but at this stage, there is no indication that anyone involved wants to make the move permanent, and it is just a good fit for the back half of the season.
From Madrid’s perspective, they can keep Endrick on their books and allow him to develop without taking minutes away from their other forwards like Kylian Mbappe.
Endrick plays like a young Wissa
While there is currently no reason to suspect that Wissa’s knee injury will keep him out longer than his current predicted return date at the end of October, there is always the chance of it re-occurring or taking time to get back to full fitness.
If this does happen, then in the loan signing of Endrick, they will receive a similar style striker. While the Brazilian is young and hasn’t had the opportunities to fully develop his game yet, he looks to be becoming a very similar profile striker to Wissa.
While Wissa is the more experienced and more prolific goalscorer, the pair share lots of similar stats in terms of passing and build-up play, registering similar amounts of passes and a similar success rate, as well as being close in terms of xA.
From Endrick’s perspective, playing with Wissa could give him an insight into the type of player he could become, and Howe will be able to rotate the two players when necessary without having to make other tactical changes due to their similar styles of play.
