USA international Daryl Dike is keen to play at the highest level, amid recently reported interest from Newcastle United.
The 21-year-old came to English shores in January on loan with Barnsley.
He made a stunning impression for the Tykes, scoring nine goals in 19 Championship games.
His contributions helped fire Barnsley to the play-off final, where they ultimately came up just short against Brentford.
Dike has now headed back to parent club Orlando City. There is now talk about what the next step is for him.
Barnsley have declined to take up their option to buy the player.
His next move will therefore be particularly interesting.
Speaking about his future to MLS Soccer, Dike said: “For me, I’ve always said I want to play in the top competitions, play against the top competition and play under the greatest staff.
“Right now, it’s focusing on acclimating back to the team and seeing how I can be able to affect the games in the next couple of weeks.
“I want to be able compete at high levels, whether it be at World Cups and playing in all these top competitions in the world. For me, I just want to continue to grow as a player and be able to do those things.”
Newcastle were linked with the player a couple of months ago.
TEAMtalk reported the Magpies were one of a few teams to have watched him closely.
Dike could be great Wilson back-up
It seems Dike is very open to leaving Orlando in order to play at a higher standard.
Newcastle may therefore look to get involved.
Obviously, there are question marks over the futures of Andy Carroll and Dwight Gayle right now.
The sensible move would be to move those guys on and bring in an exciting young talent.
Dike was great at Barnsley and looks well suited to English football.
Potentially he would be a good understudy to Callum Wilson, whom he could learn a lot from.
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