Newcastle United have been put forward as a realistic landing spot for Crystal Palace striker Alexander Sorloth, currently on loan at Trabzonspor and linked circumstantially with Real Madrid.
The Norwegian forward is almost halfway through a two-year loan with the Super Lig side after failing to impress during his 12 months in south London, but has attracted attention with a prolific campaign in Turkey this season.
Sorloth scored 19 goals in 26 league appearances for the surprise leaders in Turkey's top flight prior to the suspension of play due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Newcastle are in the midst of a takeover which is set to be imminently completed, and are thought to have a transfer budget as high as £150m – although fans have been warned that FFP regulations will prevent a Man City-esque bombardment of the transfer window, with losses of just £26m allowed over three years if the club are to be welcomed back into European competition.
The Turkish publication Fotospor have claimed that Newcastle's new owners have Sorloth at the top of their wish list. A fee of around €45m would be needed to sign Sorloth, but the newly-monied Magpies are not the only club vying for the Norwegian's signature.
Real Madrid have also been linked with the 6'5 frontman; or at least, they were linked once and their name hasn't been taken off the list, while several other European sides are thought to have made the trip to scout Sorloth in February.
When Trabzonspor faced Besiktas earlier in the year, representatives of Monaco, Brighton and Newcastle were reported by Fotospor to be in attendance to watch Sorloth score both his team's goals in a 2-2 draw.
Newcastle spent almost £40m on Brazilian striker Joelinton last summer, and have been rewarded with a single league goal all season. In fact, other than midfielder Jonjo Shelvey, no Newcastle player has scored more than two Premier League goals in 2019/20.
Sorloth certainly hasn't failed to find the net this year but there is a sizeable question mark as to whether he can replicate his form in Turkey on Tyneside given his return while at Crystal Palace.
In 16 Premier League appearances for Roy Hodgson's side, Sorloth failed to register a single goal or assist and took just 11 shots. Newcastle's impending takeover may guarantee their ability to complete his signing, it's now a matter of whether they should.
Source : 90min