Newcastle monitoring Josef Martinez as possible solution to striker situation

Newcastle may turn their attention to signing a striker in the remaining days of the transfer window and Atlanta United’s Josef Martinez could be one such target as the club has shown an interest, according to The Chronicle.

What’s the word?

The Magpies have added Valentino Lazaro to the squad having already brought in Nabil Bentaleb, and The Telegraph report that bringing in a striker is still something Bruce wants to do.

Chief scout Steve Nickson has already watched Martinez in action previously, and now the north-east outfit are believed to be monitoring the Venezuela international, who is rated at £15.7m by Transfermarkt.

Potential improvement

Bruce is keen to make sure that any player brought in would be a guaranteed upgrade on the players he already has at his disposal.

Martinez would be a gamble due to his lack of experience of playing in Europe’s top five leagues but his goal record, or more pointedly the goal returns of the forwards currently in the Newcastle squad, would suggest that the 26-year-old would offer something more.

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Of the four strikers available to Bruce only two of them have found the target this term, Yoshinori Muto scoring once and £40m Joelinton twice, and it would be difficult to argue that the latter hasn’t been a flop since his arrival last summer.

Martinez, by contrast, finished the latest MLS season with Atlanta United in October with 33 goals from 39 games to show from his efforts.

If that isn’t impressive enough, he has 88 goals in 100 appearances overall for the American outfit, and that suggests he is more of a natural finisher than Joelinton, who has been much-criticised by Magpies fans on Twitter.

Miguel Almiron had similar joy at the same club with 43 goal contributions in 70 games, teaming up with Martinez in 14 goals during their spell together, which hints that their partnership could flourish in the north-east.

The Paraguay international has just begun to find his feet at St. James’ Park after months of struggle – first registering a goal or assist 11 months after his arrival – and having experienced exactly that with Joelinton, Newcastle may be put off by Martinez.

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After all, in Italy he scored just 13 goals in 76 games for Torino, which highlights the differences in standard, although he is now older and naturally more accomplished, making his possible arrival an intriguing prospect.

Meanwhile, the club has made a big development in the transfer market recently in a way that should excite fans.