Alan Shearer believes a “big concern” for Newcastle United this season could be our over-reliance on Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin.
The Match of the Day star and former NUFC no.9 believes our strong summer transfer window has given us a “bigger threat going forward”, but fears that we are gambling on both Wilson and ASM staying fit.
Here’s what he told The Athletic, insisting the attacking duo who tore apart Burnley are the key cog in Bruce’s new-look side:
“Callum Wilson will, without doubt, give them a bigger threat going forward.
“The big concern is that they have to keep Wilson and (Allan) Saint-Maximin fit.
“Those two are key for Newcastle.”
This is a fear many fans had when deadline day passed without the signing of another striker.
After all, if Wilson gets injured we have an injury prone Andy Carroll (who hasn’t scored a PL goal for over 30 months), a player who clearly isn’t a striker in Joelinton and Dwight Gayle sat sidelined until Christmas – and he too struggles to stay fit!
Shearer then spoke about our signings on the whole, explaining how Bruce may have won some power back from Mike Ashley when it comes to our recruitment model:
“I like the signings.
“I think they had a good transfer window.
“Brucey went down the route of trying to get in players who know their way around the Premier League and he might actually have got a bit of power back in terms of who comes into the football club because of what happened last season with Joelinton.
“If we go back to last year, they wouldn’t pay £20 million for a 29-year-old centre-forward (Salomon Rondon) because they thought there was no resale value.
“This time they’ve spent £20 million on a 28-year-old (Wilson) and they probably feel they’re going to get value in terms of results, which is perhaps what they should have done with Rondon.
“In terms of Brucey getting a bit of power back, the Joelinton thing has probably helped him.
“The top brass might listen to his opinion more than they listened to other managers.”
The Wilson deal does leave me frustrated that we didn’t sign Salomon Rondon on a permanent deal last summer, however at least Mike Ashley learnt his lesson this summer and delivered the signing of a proven striker.
With four goals and an assist in four Premier League appearances so far, our £20m man from Bournemouth has got off to the perfect start.
Let’s just hope we can keep both him and ASM fit – a duo capable of unlocking the door against any top flight side if they’re at it!
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