He moved to the Premier League from La Liga for £23 million last summer transfer window
If Eddie Howe was hoping for an explosive triumph against Aston Villa at the start of the Premier League to strengthen his hand in negotiations with Alexander Isak and his potential replacements, a goalless draw where the Magpies posted a shooting accuracy of 19% and finished the game with an xG of 1.4 may have done the complete opposite
For all that there were plenty of positives for Newcastle United to take from being the better side in their at Villa Park, Robin Cowan summed it up perfectly in her closing remarks on Match of the Day: “The narrative is going to be that Newcastle lack a goalscorer. They have one on their books, in the building but not here.”
Well the fact that we’ve written this article and you’re reading it proves that correct, and the fact that Aston Villa forced as many saves from Nick Pope as Newcastle drew from backup Marco Bizot (three) despite only making three shots to the Magpies’ 16 explains why.
Anthony Gordon worked hard up front and should’ve had an open goal when Anthony Elanga burst through in the first half but elected to open fire himself rather than set up a tap-in for his teammate, but he clearly isn’t a viable long-term option at centre-forward and playing him there deprives Howe of his most incisive threat from the flanks.
Underrated Strand Larsen would thrive on Tyneside
For all of the praise that rightfully went the way of Manchester City and their players after Pep Guardiola masterminded a 4-0 victory at Molineux, the player who actually looked most likely to score first before Erling Haaland’s opener was Strand Larsen.
While Strand Larsen doesn’t have the all-court game of the Scandinavian he’d be replacing, there are few better marksmen in front of goal than the Norwegian and whether it’s through Gordon, Elanga, Sandro Tonali, Joelinton, Bruno Guimaraes or Tino Livramento, Newcastle certainly have the creators to supply him.
Ironically, FBRef.com lists Strand Larsen’s most similar player from the Premier League last season as former Newcastle United striker Chris Wood, who moved to Nottingham for £15 million two years ago in a sale the Magpies definitely won’t be regretting.
But if anything, Strand Larsen was even more deadly than the Kiwi when shooting as he posted the highest shot accuracy and goals per shot of any striker in the top flight last season at 61.1% and 0.26 respectively.
His goals minus xG tally (a measure of how good a player is at finishing) of +3.7 ranked seventh among all Premier League players, ahead of Isak, Haaland and Mohamed Salah, and was better than other Newcastle targets Liam Delap, Joao Pedro, Benjamin Sesko and Hugo Ekitike in their respective leagues in 2024/25.
Strand Larsen certainly isn’t a force of nature with the ball at his feet and he only notched four assists last season, but he was only dispossessed just over once per 90 minutes last Premier League season and only 8% of strikers in Europe’s top five leagues were tackled less during take-ons in the last year.
So he can hold his own as the focal point and bring others into the game, before peeling off the last man in defence to fire past the goalkeeper with his pinpoint shooting, and he’s unique among professional strikers worldwide in that he actually wants to play for Newcastle too.
Newcastle should use Will Osula swap deal to sign Larsen
Valuations for Strand Larsen have varied (rarely from reliable sources) from £40m to £65m but given Wolves paid £23m to Celta Vigo following a £2.5m loan fee, Strand Larsen’s 25 years of age, the fact his contract runs until 2029 and his reluctance to copy Isak’s tactics to force a move, £45m appears a solid baseline.
That’s less than what Brentford are demanding for Yoane Wissa for a player three and a half years younger who only made six less goal contributions last season.
And they can send Osula to Molinuex in return for a discount of around £10m (he moved to St James’ Park for £15m but Newcastle aren’t playing him and they’re getting desperate), allowing Wolves to develop a potential future star and allot £35m to bringing in an established replacement before the window slams shut.
Osula doesn’t look ready for the bright lights of a team fighting both in this season’s Champions League and to qualify for Europe again next season, but - with all due respect to Wolves = the lower stakes in the Midlands could allow him to flourish.
Meanwhile, Newcastle could land with someone tailor-made to thrive with Gordon and Elanga and finish a woeful summer on a high.
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