Despite spending over £150m on attacking reinforcements last summer, Newcastle United are still desperately searching for their Alexander Isak replacement.
Eddie Howe and the rest of his side have fallen victim to the disastrous recruitment in the last 12 months, with Nick Woltemade at the heart of it.
woltemade-newcastle
The German cost a club record £69m last summer. After a window-long search full of rejection, the Magpies had finally found the striker that they had been looking for.
Almost a year later, however, and that same striker now finds himself struggling in midfield.
Newcastle searching for Woltemade replacement
As much as he's attempted to defend his recent form as of late, not even Woltemade can shy away from the numbers.
Newcastle striker Nick Woltemade-2
It's far from a good look for him or for Howe that the manager has dropped him into midfield, rather than trusting him to lead the line. And it's becoming increasingly obvious that the Newcastle boss has not quite discovered how to get the best out of Woltemade.
After scoring seven goals in his first 15 Premier League games, Woltemade has found the back of the net in none of his last 13 league outings - highlighting how he's suffered since the position change.
It's a statement move from Howe, almost a direct message to Ross Wilson that he needs to make an out-and-out goalscorer Newcastle's priority this summer. If recent rumours are anything to go by, then it's message received too.
Newcastle striker Nick Woltemade-3
According to a report from TEAMtalk, Newcastle have made an approach to sign Zan Vipotnik, who could end Woltemade's time at St James' Park entirely.
Described as "the new Viktor Gyokeres" by scouts, the report notes that a whole host of English clubs have the Swansea City forward on their radar, including Brighton, Aston Villa, Everton, Leeds, Brentford and West Ham.
They have all joined Newcastle in carrying out checks on the player and his availability.
Why Vipotnik could be an "incredible" Woltemade replacement at Newcastle
If Newcastle are looking to solve their attacking problem, then signing a striker who's scored 22 goals and counting in all competitions this season would certainly be one way to do it.
Vipotnik has been in excellent form at Swansea City this season and whilst the step-up to the Premier League is far from easy, it wasn't so long ago that the aforementioned Gyokeres was putting up similar second-tier numbers.
At 24 years old, the Serbian is at the peak of his powers and would be an instant upgrade on the struggling Woltemade this summer.
League stats 25/26 Woltemade Vipotnik
Minutes 1,674 2,652
Goals 7 20
Assists 3 2
xG 6.39 11.38
Shots per 90 mins 1.67 2.78
Vipotnik can let the numbers do the talking in negotiations this summer. The forward has been absolutely clinical - scoring 20 league goals from 11.38 xG. It's simply a rare day when he spurns a golden opportunity.
Perhaps more crucially, the Swansea man also tends to be involved far more than Woltemade - taking more shots than the German.
vipotnik-swansea
Whilst this could be attributed to the latter's position change, a key reason why Howe changed his leading forward to Anthony Gordon is because his movement gets him involved far more often than Woltemade.
With Vipotnik, there wouldn't be the same concerns. The 24-year-old takes more touches in the opposition box than Gordon and more shots. In the Swansea man, Newcastle are looking at a far more complete forward.
Hailed for his "incredible" striking ability by The Athletic's Stuart James back in October, if anyone deserves a Premier League move this summer it is the Serbian striker.
Financially speaking, it remains to be seen just how much Vipotnik will cost potential suitors this summer. Given that he's a Championship star, however, it's unlikely that Newcastle will need to break the bank for his services.
That will be music to Wilson's ears, with new SCR (Squad Cost Ratio) rules coming into play and potentially limiting those in Tyneside this summer.
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