Newcastle United and Paraguay wide man Miguel Almirón’s turnaround in form has been “absolutely baffling.”
That is according to The Chronicle’s Aaron Stokes, who was speaking on the Everything is Black and White podcast following the side’s 2-1 victory at Tottenham Hotspur this weekend.
Almirón signed for the Tyneside club in January 2019 for what was then a club-record fee of around £20m.
However, the Paraguay international could never really hit the heights on Tyneside, scoring just 14 goals and providing five assists for the Magpies in three years at the club, according to Transfermarkt.
But a stunning recent run of form has earned the 28-year-old praise from Stokes, who has heaped praise on Eddie Howe for injecting confidence into the former Atlanta United wide man.
He’s picking his head up, he’s driving at players and he’s got a real purpose,” Stokes told the Everything is Black and White podcast (28:58).
“The confidence he’s showing, we’ve been waiting, what, three years to see this type of player?
“This is the player we thought we were getting from Atlanta in 2019.
“This is the player Benitez thought he was getting.
“Whatever Howe is doing the likes of Joelinton and him off the pitch, the confidence he must be giving them.
“We’ve been watching Miggy [Almirón] for three or four years now.
“I’ve never seen him play anything like this.
“Just the confidence he’s shown us is absolutely baffling.”
TIF Thoughts on Stoke’s comments…
We know that Newcastle fans will be absolutely delighted that Almirón has finally become the player that Magpies fans thought he was going to be back in January 2019.
After his aforementioned struggle for form over the past three and a half years, the 41-time Paraguay international has hit the back of the net six times in 12 Premier League appearances this campaign, according to Transfermarkt.
This has led to the wide man becoming Newcastle’s top scorer so far this campaign, and has maybe revitalised his long-term prospects at staying at St. James’ Park for the long-term, with there being rumours in the summer that the club were willing to offload the former club-record signing.
Therefore, we have to agree with Stokes in the fact that we are stunned and extremely impressed with how Almirón has turned his career around at St. James’ Park.