Pundit moots 34-goal ‘weapon’ to land Newcastle deal after weekend goal

Dwight Gayle

Former Leeds United forward Noel Whelan has suggested that Newcastle striker Dwight Gayle could be in line for a new contract.

The attacker scored in his first appearance for the Magpies this season on Saturday, heading in the winning goal against West Brom.

The 30-year-old had just come back from a ligament injury which had prevented him featuring at all this campaign.

However, the former Crystal Palace attacker netted his fifth goal in nine games at the weekend.

His contract is set to expire in June but Whelan believes a fresh deal could be on its way.

“Gayle deserves a new contract and I think he will get one because he is a natural goalscorer,” he told Football Insider.

Dwight Gayle

“The fact that he has been out for a long time, he looked really sharp at the weekend. He was getting on the ball, holding it up and you do not get too many goalscorers like Dwight Gayle.

“What a weapon to have on the bench right now.”

Gayle has been linked with a potential move to West Brom, a club he was previously on loan at.

But Whelan mooted that he could now lengthen his stay at St James’ Park by another 18 months.

“There is no harm in offering him an extra year or year-and-a-half on a contract to keep him at the club,” he said.

“Give him that opportunity because he has been injured. It would be wrong not to give him the opportunity to showcase what he can do in the Premier League.”

Since his £11million transfer from Crystal Palace in 2016, Gayle has scored 34 times in 94 matches for Newcastle.


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Several Newcastle players miss training

Seven Newcastle players missed training this week ahead of the club’s Premier League clash with Leeds United, according to The Mag.

The club suffered a breakout of Covid-19 earlier this month, forcing their game with Aston Villa to be postponed.

 

Jamaal Lascelles, Ryan Fraser, Paul Dummett and Martin Dubravka were all missing in Monday’s training session.

Allan Saint-Maximin, Fabian Schar and Mark Gillespie were also absent from match preparations.

Newcastle will search for their sixth win of the Premier League campaign when they take on Leeds on Wednesday evening.