Andy Delort would be a good addition to Newcastle’s squad in January
According to an earlier report from the Daily Mail, a host of Championship clubs were interested in securing the services of French forward Andy Delort during his days at Wigan Athletic. However, he returned to French football following an unsuccessful spell in the second tier of English football.
Delort made only 11 appearances for Wigan in the 2014-15 season, most of them coming as late substitutes and he found it difficult to adapt to life in England. However, a move back to Ligue 1 side Caen in the following season saw the forward rediscover his goalscoring mojo.
The 27-year-old, who racked up 12 goals and 2 assists for Caen in the 2015-16 season, shifted bases to Toulouse where he registered 10 goals and 5 assists for the club over two seasons.
A couple of lacklustre seasons at Toulouse saw him loaned out to Montpellier at the start of the ongoing season and the Frenchman has turned his fortunes around at his adopted club. Delort has accumulated 7 goals and 3 assists from 17 appearances in the Ligue 1.
Standing at just a shade under 6ft., Delort is primarily a centre-forward by trade but he has been used as a supporting striker and also as a wide forward due to his vision, crossing and link-up play. Essentially a right-footed attacker, Delort is known for his ambidextrous nature which adds a lot of value to the team dynamics, allowing the manager to use him in multiple positions in the final third.
A multifaceted forward, Delort not only adept at holding on to the ball to bring others into play but also has the ability to drift wide and supply his teammates with inch-perfect crosses and cut-backs into the box.
He is also very strong in the air which allows the manager to use him as a target man up front and his ability to set up goals with subtle flick-ons and lay-offs makes him an efficient assist-provider as well. Furthermore, he is a clinical finisher who excels with his awareness and positional play in the final third.
Delort has averaged 2.9 shots, 3.4 successful aerial duels and 1.6 key passes per game in the Ligue 1 this term, figures which speak volumes of his all-around ability as a centre-forward.
To put things into perspective, Newcastle United should make a move for the Frenchman in January to add that much-needed firepower to their attack. The Magpies have got things under control for the time being after a 10-game winless streak at the start of the season but they still need some fresh faces in January to boost their chances of survival.
West Brom loanee Salomon Rondon has led Newcastle’s mini-resurgence in the Premier League with some crucial goals but Rafael Benitez’s side need another quality attacker up front to link-up effectively with the Venezuelan international. And Delort certainly has the necessary skill set to do that job.
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Given that the club is not likely to have a huge transfer budget at their disposal in January, someone like Andy Delort would be a perfect choice to bolster the attack. That said, they should start keeping tags on the former Wigan man.
