According to reports today, Newcastle were offered the chance to sign Cenk Tosun this month – but Steve Bruce turned him down.
Both the Chronicle and the Daily Mail’s Craig Hope have confirmed today that the Everton striker was offered to the club before completing a loan move to Crystal Palace last week, however Steve Bruce believed he would not improve his current Newcastle side.
Bruce has insisted for some time that he won’t sign players for the sake of it, but I struggle to see how he felt the Turkish international wouldn’t be an upgrade on of our attacking options.
He’s not set the world alight at Everton since completing a £20m move from Besiktas, but he’s been involved in 16 goals in 51 appearances for the Blues – and many of those have come as a substitute.
He’s a hard worker, is built to lead the line on his own and was prolific prior to joining Everton. Surely an upgrade on Muto or an injury prone Gayle who doesn’t look suited to Steve Bruce’s system? When we need another option up top, with Joelinton struggling badly and Carroll unreliable when it comes to his fitness, he would’ve been a useful option.
It all depends on who we get the chance to sign this month – for all we know Bruce feels a better striker is available – but when the NUFC boss has stressed just how difficult the January window is (suggesting we may not sign anyone), turning down Tosun may prove to be a mistake.
The 28-year-old was heavily linked with a move to Tyneside in 2017 after bagging 64 goals in 142 appearances in Turkey, so you’d have thought a loan move for a player Everton paid £20m to sign ahead of us may have appealed.
