da betsul： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
da leao： It has been reported that Newcastle attempted to sign Jean-Philippe Mateta over the summer, and although they failed to land his signature it does show a lot about the Magpies’ transfer strategy.
What’s the word?
Newcastle had a busy transfer window this summer and had a big task on their hands to replace both Ayoze Perez and Salomon Rondon.
With that in mind, they targeted another tall striker who has more to his games than just goals in Mateta, according to Sport Bild via SportWitness. He is also thought to be a subject of interest to Tottenham and Southampton, while Monaco, Marseille and Everton reportedly showed an interest previously.
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Despite a €28m (£24m) bid, though, Newcastle failed to lure him away from Mainz, and instead focused on Joelinton, who did become their record signing for a fee of £40m.
Positive signs
Although the club ultimately failed in their pursuit of the Frenchman, Mike Ashley and Lee Charnley deserve praise for the ambition they have shown over the last few months.
They brought Miguel Almiron in for a club-record fee at the beginning of the year but were not satisfied with stopping there, and knew they had to do whatever they could to replace the figure of Rondon.
In years gone by the club would have been criticised for a lack of spending or a lack of foresight in replacing key players, yet the Magpies have shown a willingness to compete with some big clubs at home and abroad.
The clear line of thinking is also a positive aspect to come out of this story.
It is important for clubs to identify what type of players they need and avoid throwing together players with no underlining identity or philosophy – a criticism that has been labelled at Manchester United – and it seems Newcastle are moving down that path.
Mateta and Joelinton are similar types of players to Rondon, but have the added benefit of being 22 and 23 respectively. Last season the Mainz striker averaged 3.2 aerial duels won per game, but with time he could improve and equal the 4.6 average achieved by Rondon last year.
Joelinton, by comparison, has already achieved 4.9 aerial duels won per Premier League game, and has performed the lone striker role with the task of holding the ball up and bringing others into play.
It is likely Newcastle had the same plan for Mateta, whilst his 14 Bundesliga goals last term show he is more clinical than either Rondon or Joelinton.