Current Newcastle United striker Joselu, who played for Real Madrid, is set to leave the Magpies for Spanish side Deportivo Alavés.
The 29-year-old found playing time hard to come by, and managed just 5 starts for Newcastle in the recently concluded campaign. In a total of 19 appearances, Joselu scored 3 goals.
According to Spanish outlet Marca, Alavés want to bring the 6’4″ striker back to Spain in this transfer window, and Newcastle will accept bids anywhere near the region of £5 million, which is what they paid to buy him from Stoke City back in 2017.
The report suggests that the Spaniard is also interested in heading back to Spain and Alaves.
Should the Magpies let him go?
In the two seasons that he has played for Newcastle United, Joselu has scored just 6 goals for the club and has mostly been a bit-part player who was often brought on from the bench to make an impact.
In his first season in England with Stoke City, he scored just 4 goals and then went out on loan to Deportivo La Coruña, where he scored 6 goals. Joselu has played for Hoffenheim, Eintracht Frankfurt, and Hannover in Germany, before which he played briefly for Real Madrid and Celta Vigo.
Newcastle United should let go of Joselu as he hasn’t had the impact that manager Rafa Benitez would have wanted him to have.
The tall forward is a menace in the air, in attack and defence, but hasn’t been able to score too many goals for the Magpies.
In the 2018-19 season, Joselu did not receive too many opportunities because of the stellar form of striker Salomón Rondón, who was on loan from West Bromwich Albion and scored 12 goals in all competitions – one less than top scorer Ayoze Perez, who had a great season once again.
With potential new owners set to take over from Mike Ashley, manager Rafa Benitez might have more money to splash in the summer which will mean that he will have to get rid of players that haven’t performed, which includes Joselu.
Newcastle have been linked with several strikers since the end of the season, including Edin Dzeko, Danny Welbeck, and Wesley Moraes.
Works hard. Worst finisher in the club’s history.