Newcastle eyeing up move for “elusive” £25m winger

Newcastle currently find themselves in the top four, sitting fourt in the Premier League after 22 games played on 38 points.

The Magpies are averaging 51.5% possession this season (ranking 10th in the division), whilst taking 14.1 shots per game (7th highest) and scoring 38 goals so far (6th highest).

That said, Eddie Howe’s side’s excellent run of form ended this weekend after they lost 4-1 to Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth.

They were 1-0 down after just six minutes before Bruno Guimaraes equalised in the 25th minute to make it 1-1. But from that point, the Cherries went on to score three more, finishing Newcastle off and taking all three points.

Alexander Isak struggled to get involved against Bournemouth, leaving much of the attacking threat to the wingers, who also failed to impose themselves on the game.

With Miguel Almiron set to move on from Newcastle this month, the Magpies could look to strengthen their attacking options with competition for Jacob Murphy on the right side of attack.

Newcastle looking at signing new winger

According to reports from Turkish outlet Hurriyet (via GiveMeSport), Newcastle are one of several Premier League clubs showing interest in £25m-rated Galatasaray winger, Baris Alper Yilmaz.

The 24-year-old was even subject to interest from Liverpool in the summer, following a strong EURO 2024 campaign.

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Despite being right-footed and having started off as a left-winger, with the ability to cut inside on his strong foot and get shots off. In recent years, Yilmaz has started to play more from the right, being more direct, dropping into central pockets in the right half space to be closer to goal, whilst still having the capability to take it on the outside.

Yilmaz has made 28 appearances so far for Galatasaray this campaign, scoring 11 goals, providing one assist and totalling 2,218 minutes played. The Turkey international can play a host of positions, including right-wing, left-wing, centre-forward and even as a full-back if needed.

How Yilmaz compares to Anthony Gordon

Much of Newcastle’s wide threat this season has come from Anthony Gordon on the left, with Murphy picking up form in recent weeks too, especially as a creator for the likes of Isak.

Gordon has made 27 appearances so far in 2024/25, scoring eight times and providing five assists, whilst Murphy has managed three goals and seven assists in 21 appearances.

But, how do the underlying numbers compare? Here’s the answer.

Already having Murphy, who has added creativity from the right this season, a goal-scoring right-sided player with an eye for goals seems the right choice for recruitment, one who is slightly more direct with his actions. Yilmaz fits the bill for this, being more like Gordon in terms of directness and output (seen with goals scored per 90, as well as his xG and xAG numbers).

Virgil van Dijk had kind praise for the 24-year-old after facing him at Euro 2024, calling the winger “elusive“, making it hard for the defenders to keep track of him. Completing 1.70 successful take-ons per 90 and averaging 5.11 shot-creating actions per 90, you can see why the Turkish star is a handful for defenders. With those stats, it’s not a surprise to see his former coach Ilker Puren say that the forward’s level “now is close to Phil Foden.”

Adding Yilmaz in this window to replace Almiron would give Newcastle another goalscorer in the side, taking some of the burden away from Isak, and allowing Howe to change his game plan by using different wingers, with different attributes, in order to affect the game.

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