It was a busy end to the transfer window for Newcastle United, who ended a turbulent summer with an entirely new strike force.
With Alexander Isak finally sold to Liverpool after weeks of sulking and Callum Wilson released, Newcastle secured German giant Nick Woltemade on a club-record fee and Yoane Wissa in a £55m deal from Brentford.
Some are delighted with our new-look attack and the way it all panned out in the end, some believe we overpaid for both and others feel we should’ve looked elsewhere, with Paul Merson appearing to be in the latter category.
Reacting to our moves for Woltemade and Wissa, who cost a combined £125m, the Sky Sports pundit is “shocked” that the club didn’t go for Nicolas Jackson instead.
Jackson ended up joining Bayern Munich, who had previously targeted Woltemade, in a loan-to-buy deal that was finally wrapped up on deadline day.
“How Newcastle have not gone after him (Jackson) I do not know,” Merson said on the Senegalese striker.
“They’ve gone and got that lad (Woltemade) from Germany, who we don’t know what’s going happen, he’s never played in the Premier League, I’ve never seen him play.
“Nicolas Jackson, he’s a handful. He made [Cole] Palmer as good as Palmer made him. I’m shocked that he’s not gone anywhere else.”
Jackson may have Premier League experience and was considered by some a rough diamond Eddie Howe could’ve polished. However, with Sky Sports reporting that he’s cost Bayern a £14m loan fee, plus obligation to buy (based on appearances) of £56m, he’s cost the German giants serious money at an overall package worth £70m.
FC Bayern sign Nicolas Jackson on loan from Chelsea
Discussing Woltemade and Wissa, Merson feels the biggest challenge for the pair is whether or not they can combine to score more than Alexander Isak, who netted 27 times in all competitions last season:
“Eddie Howe will be hoping that the two lads score more goals than Isak, and I think we’ll all be looking at that.”
“At the end of the season it’ll come down to ‘Can the two at Newcastle outscore Isak?’
“And if they do, they made the right decision.”
Jackson may have been a risk worth taking, but there was probably a good reason we did not go there in the end. Did he fail character checks? Was he interested in signing? Were Chelsea willing to do us a favour?
Or did Eddie Howe simply favour the exciting mix of Woltemade and Wissa, giving us one young and unique technician and an experienced Premier League proven goalscorer who have all the tools to play together.
Time will tell if we made the right call, but Merson speaks with amusing conviction for a man who openly admits to never watching Woltemade play!