OPINION
Newcastle United must not pursue their reported interest in Liverpool striker Divock Origi.
According to reliable reliable Oliver Bond, who has reported for the Mirror, Newcastle are interested in signing Origi on a permanent deal. As reported by the Northern Echo, the Merseyside club rate the Belgian at £20million, so the Toon will have to spend relatively big in order to get their man.
https://twitter.com/Oliver__Bond/status/1019359307006136321?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1019359307006136321&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.chroniclelive.co.uk%2Fsport%2Ffootball%2Ftransfer-news%2Fnewcastle-united-news-transfers-live-14921103
The Magpies should forget about doing this deal and pursue other targets immediately, as the former Lille striker is simply not good enough for the Premier League.
In 203 domestic career appearances for Liverpool, Wolfsburg and others, Origi has only scored a frustrating low 44 goals. That’s an incredibly poor record for a forward who was so highly rated when the Reds signed him from Ligue 1 side Lille.
The 23-year-old has had chance after chance, and has gone to various clubs around Europe on loan deals in order to find some form, but it just hasn’t happened for him yet. He is still very young and could improve over the next couple of seasons, but Toon boss Rafael Benitez needs someone who can perform now, not in three seasons time.
Last season, the striker had a loan spell at German side Wolfsburg, scoring just seven goals in 37 appearances. You can understand the club’s interest if he was coming off the back of a great season, but that is simply not the case.
They would be better off sticking with their current striker line-up than spending big on a striker who won’t improve the team. Ayoze Perez scored three more goals than the Belgian last season, so how would this signing make the first-team better?
The reported £20million asking price is a ridiculous figure for someone who hasn’t shown anywhere near enough to be worth that sort of figure, which is why Benitez’s side must look elsewhere for a striker this summer.
