Newcastle United journalist Liam Kennedy has given his thoughts on Dwight Gayle and his future at the club.
Having played a crucial part in their promotion campaign of 2016/17, scoring 23 goals in the Championship as Newcastle United won the title, 32-year-old Gayle has certainly seen his role at St. James’ Park slowly diminish over the years.
He spent a season out on loan at West Brom in 2018/19, while this season, he finds himself a perennial substitute, only starting one game in the League Cup and only playing 20 minutes in the Premier League – despite signing a new contract at the club this past summer.
Kennedy spoke about Gayle’s situation on the latest edition of NUFC Matters, where he criticised the decision to hand him that deal before hinting that he could and should be sold by the club in the January transfer window:
“Dwight Gayle, for me, is neither here nor there. I just think he’s last season’s Andy Carroll, even less so. He’s no use to anybody, really. It just makes the decision to give him a contract even more baffling.
“I think he’ll be one of the first names out the door in January because he himself will not want to not be playing games. He’ll want to play games for any football club, because he hasn’t really played games for the last two years.”
TIF Thoughts on Liam Kennedy’s comments about Dwight Gayle and Newcastle United…
Will Dwight Gayle score 5 goals this season?
Yes
No
The problem with what Kennedy is saying here is that whilst Newcastle might want to get rid of Gayle – and they certainly have the resources to replace him – trying to find someone who would be willing to take him off their hands might prove tough.
Given his poor return in recent seasons, his injury problems and his reported £40,000-per-week wages (as per Spotrac), he doesn’t come across as the most attractive proposition for a Premier League side or arguably even a Championship side.
They may have to get desperate and just terminate his contract, which they would have the financial ability to afford, and just allow him to walk from the club, because whilst he’s at Newcastle, he’s not doing them much good, and freeing up that space in the squad to bring in someone who could be useful to them should be one of the club’s priorities in January.
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