Why Newcastle missed a trick by not signing Emmanuel Adebayor
In January, the Sun had claimed that Newcastle United were one of the Premier League clubs interested in signing free agent Emmanuel Adebayor after he had left Turkish club Kayserispor. However, a move didn’t happen and the Togolese has recently signed for Paraguayan club Olimpia. (h/t The Daily Mail)
The Magpies made just loan signings during the January transfer window, adding the likes of Nabil Bentaleb, Valentino Lazaro and Danny Rose to the squad. However, Steve Bruce failed to address the most pressing issue of his team, i.e. scoring goals.
Steve Bruce’s side have alarmingly lacked the cutting edge in front of goal, managing only 24 goals in 25 games. Newcastle United broke their transfer record in the summer by signing Joelinton from Hoffenheim but the striker is yet to find his feet in English football. The Brazilian has netted just once in 25 league games, which is simply unacceptable for a club that spent £40m to sign him. (h/t BBC)
Other than Joelinton, strikers Dwight Gayle, Andy Carroll and Yoshinori Muto haven’t scored a single goal in the league. Gayle has never been good enough for Premier League football, while Carroll is yet to put the injury problems behind him.
Thus, Newcastle made a mistake by not signing a reliable striker last month to bolster their attack. To put things plainly, Bruce missed a trick by not signing Emmanuel Adebayor.
Adebayor, 35, has been a journeyman in his career having represented nine clubs, after starting his career with French side FC Metz. The Togolese has volumes of Premier League experience, having played for Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace. He has netted 97 goals in 242 Premier League appearances.
That’s a testament to Adebayor’s goalscoring ability and he certainly could’ve helped Newcastle in the attack. Even though he is 35 and clearly past his prime, the centre-forward could have done a decent job for Newcastle on a short-term deal until the end of the season.
Read more
- Why signing Emmanuel Dennis would solve Newcastle’s attacking woes
- Why Valentino Lazaro could be a smashing signing for Newcastle United
- Why Newcastle United would be wise to sign Ademola Lookman on loan
In 446 league appearances spanning four different countries, Adebayor has 161 goals to his name and 52 assists. The former Togo international knows what it takes to succeed at the highest level and such know-how could have been benefited the Magpies in adding much-needed goals to their attack.
Verdict
Newcastle have once just once in their last five league games, with Bruce’s players failing to score goals consistently. Thus, they have clearly made a mistake by not signing Adebayor, who was available on a free transfer before joining Paraguayan club Olimpia recently.
