OPINION
After Dwight Gayle was left out of Newcastle’s final friendly lineup, the Magpies are on the verge of making a big transfer mistake.
The Toon confirmed the last friendly lineup of their pre-season schedule against Augsburg on Saturday via the clubs official Twitter account.
TEAM NEWS
Here's how Newcastle United will line up against @FCAugsburg at St. James' Park this afternoon. #NUFC pic.twitter.com/5ipBStnq7f
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) August 4, 2018
West Brom striker Salomon Rondon was also left out of the Albion starting lineup for their opening Championship fixture against Bolton on Saturday, this was confirmed via the Baggies Twitter account.
Here it is…
Darren Moore names his first starting XI of the 2018/19 @SkyBetChamp season.#WBABOL | #COYB | #WBA pic.twitter.com/0OiLp20CSA
— West Bromwich Albion (@WBA) August 4, 2018
Both bits of team news suggests that Rafael Benitez side are about to make a major blunder.
As reported by reliable journalist Lee Ryder, the club’s are still negotiating over a swap deal that could see the Albion swap Rondon for Gayle this summer.
Darren Moore will be laughing all the way to the Championship title if this move goes through, while Rafael Benitez’s side will probably be relegated and will swap divisions with the Midlands team.
Dwight Gayle is a natural goalscorer, if he gets chances he will score, if he doesn’t get chances then he won’t score as many, that’s just a fact. the 28-year-old was starved of good chances last season as the Spaniard focused more on defensive systems and keeping it tight rather than expansive football, which is absolutely fair enough.
However, the fact that the former Crystal Palace striker only scored six goals last season doesn’t mean he is a bad striker, instead if reflects badly on the team’s style of play and their ability to create chances.
Baggies fans will tell you that Rondon needs a fair few chances to score one goal, so if they’re swapping Gayle for him, they are going to be a lot worse off than they were last season. The St. James Park outfit need to stop this deal while they still can, they’re making a gigantic mistake.