Stat proves Yoane Wissa is the best Alexander Isak replacement Newcastle United could have signed

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Newcastle United have signed Yoane Wissa to replace Alexander Isak and one stat from last season shows he is the perfect choice.

Transfer deadline day proved to be a significant one for Newcastle United, with the biggest sagas of the summer finally coming to an end.

After holding firm for weeks on their £150m price tag, Newcastle relented on Sunday night and accepted a £125m bid for Alexander Isak from Liverpool.

Thankfully, they have secured their replacement with Yoane Wissa, finally signing following the record arrival of Nick Woltemade.

Wissa was desperate to make the move, with Newcastle forced to pay a £55m premium to get the deal done.

Though Wissa has a big job on his hands in replacing Isak, his scoring stats from last year’s Premier League campaign suggest he’s the best man for the job.

• Who is Yoane Wissa? Newcastle United’s £55m Alexander Isak replacement

Yoane Wissa was only behind Isak and Haaland in key scoring stat last season

Newcastle had to scratch a lot of names off their shortlist before arriving at Wissa.

The club struggled to land any of their top targets in the early stages of the window, with Hugo Ekitike, Matheus Cunha, Joao Pedro, Bryan Mbeumo and Liam Delap all going elsewhere.

But that doesn’t mean Wissa, who scored 19 Premier League goals last season, is lacking in pedigree.

In fact, only Isak and Erling Haaland scored more non-penalty goals per 90 minutes than Wissa last season, and only just.

The table reads:

1. Erling Haaland – 0.62
2. Alexander Isak – 0.62
3. Yoane Wissa – 0.58
4. Mohamed Salah – 0.53
5. Omar Marmoush – 0.53
6. Matheus Cunha – 0.52
7. Chris Wood – 0.51
8. Luis Diaz – 0.49

Given Wissa enjoyed so much success in a worse team than Newcastle, he should hopefully be even better at St. James’ Park.

Yoane Wissa stats compared with the other Newcastle target Jorgen Strand Larsen

The other striker Newcastle chased and could have signed ahead of Wissa was Jorgen Strand Larsen, though a move was abandoned when it became clear Wolves would not be selling the Norwegian.

Though Strand Larsen is younger and has a higher ceiling than Wissa, he would have cost more and wasn’t really the type of striker Howe needed compared to the quick, nimble and clinical Wissa.

In addition, Wissa’s stats from last season make for much better reading.

In fairness to Strand Larsen, he did very well in a team much worse than the one Wissa played in, so he might have been fantastic with Newcastle’s wingers sending him crosses into the box.

But it’s hard to argue that Wissa wasn’t the right decision, especially when you consider the fact that Strand Larsen drastically outperformed his xG, suggesting his form might not be sustainable.

Now, it’s up to Wissa to prove it.