Newcastle United head coach Steve Bruce has admitted that striker Dwight Gayle’s calf injury isn’t responding to treatment, according to The Chronicle.
The newspaper claims that there is an ongoing problem with the 28-year-old, on a reported £40,000-per-week [Source: Spotrac], which remains unresolved.
The Englishman, who spent the last campaign on loan in the Championship with West Bromwich Albion, is yet to feature for the Magpies in pre season.
The Daily Star reported recently that Bruce was ready to sanction another loan for the player, but after Saturday’s win over St Etienne the Magpies boss dismissed the possibility of Gayle leaving the club.
OPINION
Bruce’s admission that Gayle’s calf injury hasn’t been responding to treatment will certainly set the Newcastle supporters’ pulses racing. Not because he is their first choice striker, but because he is a reliable option up front and probably the most likely attacker to get goals if club record signing Joelinton doesn’t hit the ground running. The fact that he hasn’t featured at all this pre season is extremely worrying for the Magpies faithful, because it suggests he won’t be anywhere close to being ready for the start of the new Premier League campaign against Arsenal next weekend. We are kind of just assuming that Yoshinori Muto is going to make a big improvement this term, while hoping that Joelinton does make good on his club record transfer fee. However, the fact remains that Gayle is the team’s most proven top flight frontman. Therefore, the fact that treatment isn’t having any affect on his calf is worrying in the extreme.
