OPINION
Newcastle United’s quest for a new forward this summer must lead them to Middlesbrough attacker Britt Assombalonga as he is very reasonable priced considering his talents.
The Magpies may have successfully added forward Yoshinori Muto to their squad already but after scoring only 39 goals in 38 league games last season then they still need to recruit another.
Rafa Benitez’s side are believed to be in talks with Lyon over signing 19-year-old forward Myziane Maolida, according to L’Equipe, and have consistently been rumoured to be keen on recruiting Salomon Rondon from West Bromwich Albion.
However the Magpies look unlikely to be successful in their pursuit of the Baggies forward as according to the Daily Mirror’s Liver Transfer Blog (Thursday August 2, 16:03) the Championship side are likely to demand £25million for him.
While both of those options would boost the Magpies’ current attacking threat, Benitez must look to pursue Boro’s 25-year-old forward instead in order to complete his front line-up.
The Sun reported on Friday that Burnley and West Bromwich Albion were in the hunt to sign Assombalonga so the Magpies should be able to realistically compete with both those sides as they’re hardly notorious for being big spenders.
According to a report in July by the Northern Echo Boro’s forward has a price tag of £15million and should be within the Magpies’ reach especially if Mike Ashley finally sees sense.
The 25-year-old may not be proven at Premier League level but he has demonstrated his ability to be a lethal finisher in the Championship.
Assombalonga scored 15 goals in 44 league outings last season and has scored a total of 45 goals in the 113 appearances that he has made in England’s second-tier.
The Boro attacker aside from being able to score from a variety of positions, is powerful in the air and can also be deployed as a winger if necessary.
It seems that a Premier League team would have probably recruited Assombalonga sooner if his spell at Nottingham Forest wasn’t dramatically hampered by a knee issue.
However he regularly featured for Boro last season and looks to have put any injury concerns behind him.
Therefore the Magpies must solve their need for a new forward by poaching their local rivals’ current attacker as his £15million price tag should surely see some sort of deal being able to be achieved.
