Newcastle United transfer news: A surprising new name has emerged in Newcastle United’s search for a striker.
The Norwegian international scored 24 goals in all competitions for Atletico last season, just two fewer than he managed a season prior with Villareal. Sorloth has found the net on 55 occasions during his last three La Liga campaigns and has emerged as one of Europe's top strikers.
However, there has reportedly been a falling out between the 29-year-old and his manager with Atletico potentially set to allow Sorloth to leave the club before the end of the summer window. Sorloth played just eight minutes of Atletico’s league opener against Espanyol at the weekend, a game they would surprisingly lose 2-1 against a team that narrowly avoided relegation last term.
That match saw two teams that had played at St James’ Park just a week prior pitted against each other. In those pre-season games against the Magpies, a late Kike Garcia header rescued a draw for Espanyol a day before Siemone’s Atletico secured a comfortable 2-0 win.
Sorloth didn’t start against the Magpies in that game, but came on just after the hour mark as Simeone made eleven changes at once.
He didn’t find the net in that game, but did set up Antoine Griezmann just minutes after the pair entered the field of play.
Alexander Sortloth’s Premier League experience
Sorloth, once a teammate of Alexander Isak at Real Sociedad, has experience of playing in the Premier League. Although it will be one he would largely like to forget.
Back in 2018, a then 22-year-old Sorloth was bought by Crystal Palace to spearhead their attack. Palace had been fired up by goals from Wilfried Zaha and Sorloth was added to bring a physical presence to their front line.
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However, he would find the net just once in 20 appearances in all competitions for the Eagles before being sent on-loan to Belgian side Gent. Palace were ultimately able to make a profit on the striker when they sold him to RB Leipzig in 2020, although they were never truly able to benefit from goals he scored on the pitch with his sole Palace goal coming in August 2018 in a clash against Swansea City.
Reflecting on his time at Selhurst Park to TV2 in 2020, Sorloth blamed an ill-timed injury as the root cause of his unsuccessful spell in England: “I had a wrongly cancelled goal against Chelsea in one of the first matches. If I had scored, then I might have cemented my position in the team. The following week I was going to start against Huddersfield, but unfortunately, I suffered an injury.
“I tried to think positively, but didn’t get a minute for the rest of the season, even though I was in the squad. It went beyond my self-confidence when I couldn’t play anymore after the first four games, where I felt I had been decent.
“You are judged by fans and journalists for the few minutes you get at the end of a match, which I think is terribly unfair.
“If you are a player who just gets brought on, it goes beyond confidence and you feel you are not good enough to start. It causes stress, especially as a striker.”
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