Newcastle United have made great progress since their takeover by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in October 2021. The Magpies have reached the Carabao Cup final and qualified for the Champions League via a top-four finish in 2022/23, in which they faced AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germian and Borussia Dortmund.
According to a recent report from The Athletic, the North East outfit have also spent a whopping £450m across six transfer windows, with a net spend of £350m. Transfers have not been easy to conduct due to the risk of breaching the Premier League’s profit and sustainability regulations, although the Magpies have still spent plenty of money on the likes of Alexander Isak, who cost £63m.
With that being said, the free transfer market is still of interest to Newcastle, and they have recently been linked with a move for one former Premier League star whose contract expires in 2025.
Newcastle target Sane
The player in question here is Bayern Munich and German international winger Leroy Sane. The 28-year-old spent a large portion of his career at Manchester City, before returning to his native Germany to play for the Bavarian giants.
Now, according to former Premier League scout Mick Brown, in conversation with Football Insider, Eddie Howe’s side ‘will be pushing hard to reach an agreement’ with the former Schalke youth product when they can open negotiations in January.
He went on to explain that Newcastle would not be the only side looking to add the Premier League winner to their ranks, although did not give any other names. It remains to be seen who else challenges the Magpies for his signature.
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Why Sane would be a good signing
There is no doubt that, in signing Sane, the Magpies would be adding one of the most dangerous wingers in Europe.
He has a superb record for Bayern, with 49 goals and 50 assists in 179 games. His Premier League numbers speak for themselves, too; in 90 games in the top flight of English football, Sane has 25 goals and 29 assists. It is easy to see why football statistician Statman Dave called the winger “elite”.
His creative numbers were a real standout for Bayern last term. He played 27 Bundesliga games, scoring eight times and registering 11 assists. As per Fbref, Bayer Leverkusen wing-back Alex Grimaldo was the only player in the first division of Germany to register more assists, with 13.
Impressively, there were just two other players who registered more in Europe’s big five leagues; Alex Baena of Villarreal chalked up 14 and Aston Villa attacker Ollie Watkins, who registered 13 like Grimaldo. Sane’s expected assists tally of 10.8 xA was beaten by just six players across the big five European leagues.
This creative flair has always been a real standout feature of Sane’s game and he has formed some deadly partnerships in his time. He has combined for a goal with former Citizens teammate Raheem Sterling 17 times, more than any other player, and there are deadly strikers whom he has also linked up well with, including Sergio Aguero and Robert Lewandowski.
17
Raheem Sterling
13
Thomas Muller, Serge Gnabry
12
Robert Lewandowski
11
Joshua Kimmich
10
Leon Goretzka, Jamal Musiala, Harry Kane
9
Kingsley Coman
8
David Silva, Bernardo Silva, Gabriel Jesus, Huntelaar
7
Sergio Aguero
This is certainly a good thing for Newcastle, who have a clinical striker of their own in Isak. The Swede was in fine form during the 2023/24 campaign, playing 30 games and netting a very impressive 21 goals.
According to Fbref, he was statistically one of the English top flight’s best performers in front of goal. He slightly exceeded his expected goals tally of 20.3xG and came third amongst players with five or more goals for number of goals per 90 minutes, with 0.84. To put it simply, he is deadly.
Combining Sane’s creative flair and ability with Isak’s obvious quality in front of goal could be an incredible partnership for Howe. The German has a strong history of linking up with his club’s first choice number nine, and he would be looking to continue that with the Swede.
This could be the duo that can potentially take the Magpies back to the heights of Champions League football. It would be a superb acquisition if Newcastle could fend off interest from other clubs and win the race to sign Sane on a free transfer.
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