The Lazio star Newcastle could look to sign – A January stop-gap?

It looks as if this will be Almiron’s last season at Newcastle. With a January exit possible, the need for a right winger will be even more desperate should the Paraguayan depart. It could be argued that we’ll soon need two.

However, an issue with the January window is it can be difficult to do business mid-season, especially when signing “elite players”. So, the task for Newcastle to sign the top right winger we need in the upcoming window could be extremely tough.

My solution would be signing a stop-gap option who is an upgrade on our current options but is a suitable back up next season. In the past we have seen options like Morgan Whittaker mentioned, which would fit this mould, but a player which has caught my eye this season is the Danish international Gustav Isaksen of Lazio.

Isaksen is a 23-year-old right winger who was born in Hjerk in Denmark. He stands at 5’10ft; a good height for a wide man and something Eddie Howe seems to like in his squad, where  possible. The Dane spent his youth and early days in his career at Fc Midtjylland, who are well known for their youth production, producing players like Onyedika, Kjaer, Joachim Andersen and many more.

Last summer, Lazio brought in Isaksen for 7.5 million euros. He was mainly used off the bench last season and only accumulated 1074 minutes. But this season he seems to have found himself a place in the starting 11 and has already picked up 546 minutes in the Serie A this season, picking up one goal and one assist, along with a goal in the Europa League. I will admit the numbers don’t stand out, but there is real talent and potential there, having delivered a 22-goal and nine-assist season for Midtjylland as a 21-year-old during the 2022/23 campaign.

What is his role for Lazio? Under new manager Marco Baroni, Lazio have gone to a 4-2-3-1. With Isaksen playing as their right winger, he loves to cut inside and link play in central areas. However, a problem he is having is he is often stuck out wide holding width as their Right back is instructed to form a back three in possession and create a 3-1-6 shape. This means that Isaksen doesn’t have someone overlapping him, which in my opinion isn’t getting the best out of him, as he needs players to help create space for him to cut inside and get into dangerous goal scoring situations. Lazio do like to press though – they push up to a popular 4-2-4 shape – and Isaksen has benefited from that, often curving his runs, sprinting when necessary and has good understanding of his role.

How would he fit into this Newcastle side? I think he would slot in nicely. He is a tall, physical left footed right winger, who can operate out wide and in central areas, which is crucial due to the newfound fluidity of this Newcastle side. He is a great crosser of the ball, technically sound and links play nicely. He would really help improve our right side combinations. One thing I feel he needs to work on is his off-ball movements, especially in the box. Another reason why he doesn’t score much is due to his box movements, often not arriving in the correct positions or is late to arrive or just made the wrong decision and tried to do it himself. He reminds me a lot of Anthony Gordon at Everton and look what has happened to him since his move to St James’ Park.

Obviously, this signing would be a risk due to him having no Premier League experience and a limited goal scoring tally in a top five league. But there is potential and talent there.

Something that has been mentioned a lot is trying to buy in the dip, and this is exactly what we would be doing with Isaksen. I do also want to note, this is a signing I would want to be made in the case we can’t sign an elite right winger in January; he is not my first choice. But I do believe, with Almiron leaving, that we need to sign two right wingers across the next two windows.

Isaksen should only cost about £20 million, which in today’s market is a very decent price for a player who is an upgrade on all our current right wing options.