According to Caught Offside, Newcastle United are one of the Premier League clubs interested in signing Red Bull Salzburg playmaker Oscar Gloukh.
The Magpies have been struggling with goal contributions this season, and this was further demonstrated in their defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion this weekend.
With 21 total shots against the visitors, Newcastle were not short of opportunities to take points from the clash at St James’ Park on Saturday, but Danny Welbeck’s efforts ultimately cost the home side all three points.
For context, Newcastle had scored 20 goals in the Premier League at this stage last season, however, they have only managed to find the back of the net eight times so far this season.
Indeed, injuries do play into this difficult start for the Geordies with Callum Wilson not available for selection at all and Alexander Isak missing a few games due to a toe injury.
Still, ultimately there is an argument that more should’ve been done to bolster that attacking threat with no efforts to improve the current relied upon goal-scoring personnel, with consideration of the fact that both Isak and Wilson were also injured in multiple spells last season.
New sporting director Paul Mitchell will be afforded the chance to address these obvious issues and improve upon the poor recruitment strategy implemented in the summer by doing some impactful business in January that could set the stage for a much better second half of the season.
Caught Offside are reporting today that Newcastle are one of the Premier League clubs interested in signing talented 20-year-old attacker Oscar Gloukh, but will have some strong competition for his signature.
Manchester City, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Bayer Leverkusen and Atletico Madrid are all named by the publication as potential suitors interested in securing the Israeli’s signature – which would reportedly cost €35m (£29m).
Who is Oscar Gloukh?
There is no doubt that Newcastle are in desperate need of a fresh perspective in the forward line and a youthful presence in the form of Gloukh could be the perfect profile to invest in.
Red Bull Salzburg are famous for their eye for youth talent with Sadio Mane, Erling Haaland, Karim Adeyemi and Dominik Szoboszlai all making their name’s known at the Austrian club, and Gloukh is on track to become the next big star polished up under their guidance.
Over seven league appearances so far this season, the Israel international – dubbed a “high-profile” player by former Salzburg boss Gerhard Struber – has scored five goals, registered two assists and created six big chances, as well as averaging 1.4 shots on target and 2.1 key passes per game.
Predominantly applied as an attacking midfielder, this season Gloukh has been playing on the left wing in their Champions League fixtures, so it is clear he has the versatility to comfortable execute his direct attacking approach in different roles which would be ideal for Newcastle.
Ideally, a right winger would be the role for a new attacker to slot into in January, as neither Jacob Murphy or Miguel Almiron are offering enough in their output to justify not being displaced, while Anthony Gordon often keeps Harvey Barnes out of the team on the left wing.
Having said that, a tenacious attacking midfielder who has an eye for a goal could also be beneficial in bringing back to life Alexander Isak’s goal-scoring prowess, something that has unfortunately not been seen so far this season in his performances.
With that being said, it will be interesting to see if Newcastle will throw their hat in the ring for Gloukh when the transfer market reopens, as there will be no time to waste in getting the attack firing again to ensure European qualification is secured at the end of the season.