Newcastle United had a hectic summer with plenty of new faces coming in and one big name heading out, but the fact they missed out on one player has not been a problem at all.
With the departure of Alexander Isak, Newcastle United were pretty busy this summer. They still managed to bring in the likes of Anthony Elanga, Jacob Ramsey, and star signing Nick Woltemade, though.
Who is the one player you wish Newcastle United signed in the summer?
We missed out on a lot, but I'm not upset we didn't sign Strand Larsen in the end!
In many ways, Woltemade was signed at the expense of Jorgen Strand Larsen, with a deal unable to be struck for the Wolves striker.
While Strand Larsen wanted to join Newcastle, it wasn’t to be. And now, he’s really struggling with bottom of the table Wolves.
Alan Shearer criticises Jorgen Strand Larsen
Having scored 14 goals last season, there were high hopes that Strand Larsen could build on that in 2025/26. However, he’s scored just once in 13 games this term.
While Strand Larsen said he wants to improve last month, it still isn’t happening for the Norway international.
His latest display against Man United was poor once again, and it’s attracted attention for all the wrong reasons from Alan Shearer.
Commenting on the performance, Shearer said: “Newcastle had a bid turned down for Strand Larsen. I’ve not seen anything this season, and it might be unfair on him, I guess, but I’ve not seen anything to suggest that that money would have been well spent.”
- READ MORE: Newcastle’s Nick Woltemade shares who he thinks was better between Alan Shearer and Wayne Rooney
How does Strand Larsen compare to Nick Woltemade?
Hindsight is a fine thing, but Newcastle clearly made the right call by signing Woltemade instead of Strand Larsen. That said, the statistics don’t exactly point to that.
Interestingly, both players are outperforming their xG, but Woltemade is doing so to a much higher standard. Strand Larsen has an xG of 1.7 this term and has three goals in all competitions while the Newcastle man is at 5.2 xG and a return of seven goals.
Who will finish on more goals in all competitions this season?
What’s odd is that Strand Larsen actually has a better shots on target percentage, with 44.4% compared to Woltemade’s 32%, but this is a game dictated by goals, not shots on target.
However, outside of the standard striker statistics, Woltemade does look far more impressive. He has a better pass success rate (78.5% compared to Strand Larsen’s 65.2%), is far more productive when it comes to shot-creating actions per 90 (2.12 to Strand Larsen’s 1.21), and has more touches per game with 27 per 90 compared to 25.9 for the Wolves man.
The great thing is, Woltemade keeps getting better for Newcastle. Indeed, that £65m the Magpies paid for the German striker looks like money well spent already.
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