OPINION
West Brom striker Dwight Gayle – who is currently on loan from Newcastle this season – has been blowing everyone away after ripping up the Championship with 16 goals in 26 outings so far.
Many Newcastle United ans were no doubt questioning why the club got rid of Gayle temporarily after he kept banging the goals in, but an incident from West Brom’s 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest on Tuesday proves exactly why Rafa Benitez would not be wise to take him back.
The striker went down easily in the box after minimal contact, which resulted in a penalty being awarded to the Baggies and Jay Rodriguez slotting the strike home to secure a point.
Plenty of football supporters would have been up in arms about the flashpoint, but this type of behaviour demonstrates exactly why taking the 28-year-old back to St James’ Park would be a bad idea.
Diving is not too uncommon these days, but the fact that it led to the penalty that made Forest drop two points will no doubt make the Newcastle fans think twice about having a forward who is likely to go down easily in order to benefit his side.
There is always the risk that the attacker in question will get punished if they are caught, and Benitez simply cannot afford to have a player like this at the club.
He may have scored 16 goals and there is no denying the talent that Gayle has, but such behaviour means that the Baggies are welcome to keeping him.
Having a player like Gayle on the field would be a liability for Newcastle, so they must convince West Brom to sign him permanently in the summer.
