Newcastle United should sign Lille FC striker Jonathan David this summer in order to replace the departing Callum Wilson.
Wilson is set to become a free agent and leave St James’ Park after spending a five-year spell with the club. He has made 110 Premier League appearances for Newcastle, scoring 47 goals.
The 33-year-old’s contract hasn’t been extended, and he will leave in the summer transfer window, leaving just Alexander Isak and William Osula as the two strikers available to Eddie Howe next summer.
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The Magpies have been linked to several replacements, including Juventus’ Dusan Vlahovic and Emmanuel Emegha from Strasbourg in France.
However, they should target a different replacement, who they will be able to sign for free this summer, despite him scoring 25 goals this season.
Newcastle should sign Jonathan David
Lille FC’s Jonathan David has been linked with a move to Newcastle ahead of the summer transfer window, as the Canadian international is due to become a free agent with his contract at the French club expiring.
It will bring a five-year-spell at Lille to an end after he managed to score 109 goals for the French side, proving himself to being one of the best natural goal scorers in Europe over those five seasons.
David has been linked to rivals Arsenal, Man United and Liverpool, but if Newcastle manage to qualify for the Champions League, there is no reason why they wouldn’t be able to tempt him with a move to St James’ Park.
David will only join ‘if Isak leaves’
Despite the reports suggesting that Newcastle are one of the Premier League clubs in the race to sign the 25-year-old, former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson thinks he will only come to St James’ Park if the Magpies sell Isak.
He told Football Insider: “Eddie Howe plays with one striker and that’s Isak. The only way that he [David] ends up for me at Newcastle is if Isak leaves.
“He’ll ask ‘do I want to go to Newcastle? Yeah, opportunity with Champions League football, a club that’s growing, the wages are going to be fantastic. But what opportunity am I going to get to play? I may play in the early rounds of the Champions League. I may play in some domestic cups’…It’s not an attractive proposition.
“I’m not comparing Tottenham to Newcastle, but it’s the same as what Tottenham had for years. How do you get a second striker to Harry Kane?“
Click here to see Newcastle United’s first team squad heading into the summer transfer window.