OPINION
Newcastle United centre-forward Dwight Gayle has flattered to deceive for most of the season and should be binned in the summer if the club want to show some real ambition in the Premier League.
The Magpies must of course still secure their top-flight status this campaign, but should have enough to get over the line given their recent form.
Gayle has shown glimpses of his quality in the past couple of weeks and some may argue that is enough of a case to keep him for next season, but manager Rafael Benitez should not be fooled.
The striker has scored just five goals all season and the club need a frontline striker next year that can get closer to a tally of 15.
Newcastle fans are adamant their club should be competing in the top half of the Premier League every year, but without a recognised goalscorer that will be impossible.
Gayle may have played a huge part last season in their promotion from the Championship, scoring an impressive 23 goals, but they need to forget loyalty and sell him at the end of this season.
The Englishman unfortunately fits into the category of being prolific in the Championship and then extremely mediocre when in the top flight.
He rarely makes the most of his pace to trouble defences in behind and offers very little threat when he plays in attack alone.
Newcastle’s return of just 30 goals in as many league games this year is quite frankly embarassing and they need to reshuffle their frontline to find a solution.