According to the Athletic, Dwight Gayle has signed a new contract with Newcastle United.
The striker’s deal was set to expire this summer, but he will now reportedly be staying until 2024.
This comes as a surprise, considering how little football Gayle has played this season.
Even during Callum Wilson’s injury absence, Gayle has spent most of his days on the bench.
Despite this, he is now set to remain at St James’ Park beyond the summer. Here are three reasons why Newcastle may have decided to hand Gayle a new deal.
Preparing for the Championship
Most fans think this is why Gayle has got a new contract.
The Magpies are in the thick of a relegation battle right now, two points clear of Fulham who occupy the final place in the bottom three.
Newcastle have been in freefall for a while now, and seem destined to drop back down into the Championship.
If that is the case, then keeping Gayle makes sense. While he struggles in the Premier League, he is lethal in the Championship.
That was why we signed him in 2016. It paid off, with Gayle scoring 23 goals as we won the title.
If we do go down, we will need a goalscorer to come back up. Wilson would likely leave, but at least we’ve got his replacement waiting in the wings.
Increase his sell-on value
Reason two goes hand-in-hand with reason one.
If we go down, then Gayle will be very useful in the Championship. If we stay up, we will be able to get some money for the 31-year-old.
Gayle was an expensive signing five years ago, costing £10million. Losing him for nothing would be extremely poor business.
If Gayle was a free agent, he would have a plethora of second tier clubs chasing his signature. His arrival could be the difference between going up or staying in the Championship.
Handing Gayle a new contract preserves his value, and means Newcastle can recoup some of their cash if they sell him on.
About to start playing more
As we’ve already said, Gayle hasn’t played a lot of football this season.
We’ve needed him in recent weeks during Wilson’s absence, although Bruce has either played him in an unsuitable role or not played him at all.
But could his new contract be a sign that he is about to play a lot more?
Perhaps the deal has been used to motivate Gayle, in an attempt to get more out of the striker and drag Newcastle away from danger.
However, if he is going to starting playing more then we need to change system. Unfortunately, that seems unlikely.
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