Chris Wood was the subject of interest on transfer deadline day, but Newcastle United reportedly rejected every enquiry that came their way.
According to the Daily Mail, the Magpies turned down multiple approaches for the 30-year-old striker. They report that Championship side Watford asked about signing him, while there was also been interest from a number of Premier League clubs.
However, Newcastle have said no. They have decided to keep what is now their third choice centre forward when all players are fit. And that is absolutely the right decision as long as Wood wants to stay at St James’ Park.
Newcastle keeping Wood is the right decision as enquiries are rejected
When Callum Wilson returns from injury, Wood might be questioning how on earth he’s going to get back into Eddie Howe’s starting XI.
The New Zealand international joined the club in January for £25million, drafted in to replace the injured Wilson. While he was an important presence up top, he didn’t score a lot of goals.
Wood found the net twice for Newcastle last season, and has one so far this campaign – the winner against Tranmere.
With Alexander Isak joining the club too, it’s difficult to see how the former Burnley man, who earns £80,000-a-week at Newcastle, will regain his place in the starting lineup.
However, while we’ve got two real goalscorers in Wilson and Isak, it is still vital that we retain Wood.
When Isak joined, it was reported that the club hope to play both him and Wilson in the same team. That means that Wood still has a vital role to play, especially if we switch to a front two. He will still get minutes, and provide important contributions as a substitute.
And with Wilson’s injury record, there’s always a chance that Wood will be called upon more regularly. That’s why we need three strikers of decent quality.
We’ve absolutely got that right now, which is why it would be madness for the owners to let Wood go so soon. If he was to leave, we would only have had to replace him. That would have been incredibly difficult so late in the window.
Sporting Director Dan Ashworth has seemingly decided to keep the Kiwi, and it is absolutely the correct decision.