Sorloth to Newcastle? – Why 6ft 4″ giant may be a risk worth taking for Eddie Howe

Callum Wilson hasn’t been replaced and we’ve started the season with a talented but raw Will Osula as our only option, seeing Anthony Gordon start as a false nine instead.

With a deal for Brentford’s Yoane Wissa in doubt and Wolves unlikely to sell Jorgen Stand Larsen at anything below an extortionate £55-60m, Newcastle are getting desperate.

We simply can not go into the first half of the season, hoping to compete in league, cup and in the Champions League with an on strike Isak and unproven Osula as our only real options.

This has seen a new link emerge on Friday afternoon in Atletico Madrid’s Alexander Sorloth.

The Mail’s Craig Hope reveals that he is the latest option under discussion at Newcastle United with just 10 days left until the window shuts a week on Monday.

Look at his stats over the past few seasons and you’d be stunned by his output, along with his giant 6ft 4″ frame and prolific record for his national team, Norway, where he has 24 in 63 games.

But search his stats during his forgettable stint with Crystal Palace (2018-2019), along with the fact he turns 30 in December, and you’d be left wondering if he’s another Joselu.

Starting with the good, Sorloth has been scoring goals for fun under Diego Simeone. Not only has he weighed in with 50 goals over the last two seasons with Atletico Madrid, he has done that without starting regularly.

Over the 2024/25 season, the former Real Sociedad and Villarreal star bagged 24 goals in 57 games, yet only 22 of those appearances came from the start as he appeared 35 times on the bench.

Sorloth scored 14 goals as a substitute, more than any player in Europe’s top five leagues last season, and found the net every 78 minutes in La Liga, giving him one of THE best minutes to goals ration across Europe.

That’s a mighty impressive first season, and he delivered something similar over 2023/24, bagging 26 in 41 games for Villarreal, including three in six Europa League outings.

As for the not-so-good, his one and only stint in the Premier League was an utter disaster and entirely forgettable.

It was a long time ago, and he’s clearly improved now Simeone uses him frequently with in a strong Atletico squad, but his one season at Crystal Palace over 2018/19 saw him manage just one goal in 20.

Another concern is his age. We have missed the boat now on that early 20s striker who we hope to be the future Alexander Isak, with Ekitike, Sesko, Delap and Pedro all gone, but Sorloth turns 30 later this year and would be a short-term fix, at best.

However, if Eddie Howe and Newcastle have a decent relationship with Atletico – Howe spent time studying Simeone during his year out and we hosted them at St James’ Park a few weeks ago – and Sortloth wants to drop the ‘super sub’ tag with a point to prove in the Premier League, I wonder if a loan-to-buy deal might be possible?

He’s nothing like the silky, quick, ball-carrying Isak, but a big, burly poacher who can get on the end of crosses – like Chris Wood while playing with Anthony Elanga last season – and win everything in the air could give us something different at a pretty desperate time.

If the deal was right and Newcastle really do like him, a short-term move for a Sorloth stop-gap may be better than spending £65m-plus on Norway teammate Strand Larsen.