Unreliable front line still in need of real firepower
POPE PURCHASE WILL HELP MAGPIES BUT CLUB CAN’T RELY SOLELY ON WILSON
GEORDIES were expecting someone to put the ball in the net but instead they are to be presented with someone to keep it out!
Nick Pope, a goalkeeper who will challenge the supremacy of Martin Dubravka, will become the first new face to be signed by Newcastle this summer.
Reality amid all the speculation dawned on fans with the confirmation that Burnley’s shot stopper was coming to Tyneside for a medical. Once a deal makes that stage 99 times out of 100 it goes through... unless you are John Beresford at Liverpool.
A Pope arriving at the cathedral on the hill is not what had been United’s expected breakthrough signing after the return of Matt Targett especially with the long saga of will-hewon’t-he concerning young striking sensation Hugo Ekitike but he will be a welcome addition with the departure of Freddie Woodman likely to be followed by Karl Darlow shooting off to pastures new.
However, there is still plenty of time to prioritise massively important positions like centre-forward and centre-half as well as a winger and midfielder.
One thing is for certain – Pope is not coming here to sit obediently pitch side as understudy to Dubravka like others before him. He has made that abundantly clear behind the scenes. He wants to be on the plane to Qatar for the World Cup finals, something Dubravka and Slovakia cannot achieve and there is only one way of doing that.
If dropping into the Championship would have been detrimental to his dreams then not playing at all as a bench warmer would be even worse.
Will Pope have sought firm reassurances before pen hits paper? Without question.
Despite relegation with Burnley, Pope was in England’s squad alongside Kieran Trippier for all four Nations League matches this month having started for his country as recently as March 2022 when he kept a clean sheet in a 3-0 victory over Ivory Coast.
Indeed, the shot-stopper has a remarkable record with the national side. In eight England appearances he has kept seven clean sheets, the only goal he has conceded being in a 2-1 win over Poland.
As the days slowly tick down towards the eventual end of the transfer window – thankfully still a couple of months away – Geordie minds may well drift to where we would be if a centre-forward fails to arrive.
Who can be relied upon in the current squad to regularly do the job of scoring goals?
The answer sadly is no one, which is why a signing up top and possibly out wide is imperative to the team’s health.
Callum Wilson is the obvious big gun but while eight Premier League goals from 18 appearances last season is a decent goals per game return, he simply cannot stay fit long enough over a 38-match run. The previous season, 2020-21, Wilson managed only 26 games, which still brought 12 goals.
It’s all ifs and buts. If he stays fit, the Mags are OK but he never does.
After Wilson, where can we look? Bruno Guimaraes was wonderful – five strikes from just 11 starts plus six sub outings – but can we automatica l ly expect that again. Joe Willock joined us with the same goals panache but keeping it going from a deeper position in midfield is far from easy. The former Arsenal man’s tally of two goals in 29 matches last term brought reality home.
After that, Allan Saint-Maximin managed five in 35 tries – with none this year – which is far from good enough given his natural ability.
The rest of United’s attackers? Here are their figures last campaign:
Joelinton four goals from 35 appearances, Ryan Fraser two from 27, Chris Wood two from 17, Miggy Almiron one from 30, and Jacob Murphy one from 33 (13 starts and 20 subs).
Not one record good enough for a top attacker.
Willock failed coming from deep and needs to rediscover himself while the only other decent but low key goals per game ratio after Wilson and Guimaraes was defender Trippier, with two from six games. However both were stunning direct freekicks from a full-back so while that particular weapon is most welcome it cannot produce too much goalscoring expectancy.
No, United need to buy – be it Ekitike, Dominic Calvert-Lewin or whoever. We all know that including Eddie Howe, Amanda Staveley, and her fellow directors.