Devastating Injury Update: Brentford Confirm 2 Key Players Will Be Without The Squad At Home Against Aston Villa

Devastating Injury Update: Brentford Confirm 2 Key Players Will Be Without The Squad At Home Against Aston Villa

 

Newcastle United have submitted a new bid for Brentford’s Yoane Wissa worth £40 million. The offer is said to be comprised of a £35 million transfer fee and £5 million in “difficult to achieve” add-ons.

Brentford brought Wissa to the Premier League from FC Lorient in 2021 for £8.5 million, meaning that the current bid would more than quadruple their initial investment. However, David Ornstein has since reported that this bid has been rejected.

Ornstein writes that sources close to Brentford do not know the club’s current valuation of Wissa, as they have not shared that information with any of the striker’s suitors at this point.

Whilst the Magpies move has been shut down for now, there is positive news for Newcastle in that both Fabrizio Romano and Ornstein are reporting that Wissa wants the deal to happen, with Romano posting that Wissa “hopes for green light to join NUFC project” and has sent a clear message on Wednesday.
Over the last few weeks, a number of clubs have been embroiled in transfer sagas that undoubtedly seemed connected. Newcastle’s need to bring in a player like Wissa has only been added to by the seemingly impending exit of Alexander Isak, who is pushing for a move more than ever.

Newcastle were previously reported to be waiting until Brentford signed Bournemouth’s Dango Ouattara to make an offer, as he is seen as potentially being a replacement for Wissa. Now that Brentford have their man, they may be willing to allow Wissa to move to Newcastle if a satisfactory bid is received, especially given Wissa’s desire to see the deal happen.

Once Wissa joins Newcastle, the club may be more willing to entertain bids from Liverpool for Isak, as they, too, will have their replacement striker. Liverpool have already spent heavily this window; they have moved on a number of players for big fees, and players like Harvey Elliott could also be exiting soon, allowing them to have the finances to place a bid that matches Newcastle’s valuation of Isak.

Wissa has big shoes to fill
If Wissa is indeed to be the replacement for Isak, then he has big shoes to fill, but if anyone can do it, he can. Last season, Isak registered 23 goals and 6 assists, whereas Wissa registered 19 goals and 4 assists, only marginally behind the Swedish striker.

One positive way in which the two strikers are similar is that they both outperformed their expected goals last season. This means in the same way that Isak was scoring goals that most strikers wouldn’t, Wissa will be able to join the side and impress in the same way.

While Isak had better numbers, he was doing it in a better team, a team that managed to qualify for the Champions League, whereas Brentford only finished in 10th place. With the addition of Anthony Elanga to the squad and pre-existing players like Anthony Gordon and Jacob Murphy supporting him, Wissa will likely boost his numbers once he makes a move to the North East.