OPINION
Newcastle United need to squash Dwight Gayle’s belief that he can still do a job at St James Park as it could see him ignore clubs such as Fulham and Stoke City.
The Daily Star reported on Saturday that the 28-year-old Magpies attacker wanted a chance to revive his Toon career and believes he’s capable of featuring for the club in the Premier League, especially with the club not having many attacking options.
The newspaper claimed that Gayle also believes he has a chance of making it work for him at Newcastle regardless of whether Rafa Benitez stays at the club, despite the forward being loaned out while the manager was in charge last season.
However the Magpies need to move on from the 28-year-old.
Gayle has never quite proven himself to be a reliable goalscorer in the Premier League, despite his best efforts, as he has only managed 21 goals across the 99 appearances he has made in the division.
The attacker’s last campaign in the Premier League, which was with the Magpies in the 2017/18 campaign, was particularly disappointing as he only grabbed five goals in 35 league outings, and only 37% of his shots hit the target (Source: Premier League).
And while he did have a prolific loan spell at West Bromwich Albion in the Championship, he scored 24 goals in 41 outings for them, it doesn’t mean he is finally ready to take the Premier League by storm.
Yet what Gayle’s form in the Championship does mean, it’s that there are clubs in England’s second-tier that are willing to pay over the odds to get him as they think he can aid their promotion bids.
According to the Daily Express, Fulham are plotting a £20million move for the Magpies forward while Championship rivals Stoke City have already offered £20million in attempt to acquire his services.
Gayle’s value is likely inflated due to his impressive 2018/19 season and it could go down if he sticks around at St James Park for the upcoming campaign and proves once again he just doesn’t quite have ‘it’ when it comes to the top-flight.
With this in mind, the Magpies need to make it clear to Gayle that he needs to move on for the sake of his career by squashing any hope he holds about his Newcastle future, as him sticking around could cost the club a lucrative payday.
