Newcastle ace looked “like Alan Shearer”, but then Benitez sold him

Newcastle United have got a pair of strikers in Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson who bring goals and influence to the St. James’ Park pitch – it wasn’t always that way.

The lucrative PIF takeover and appointment of Eddie Howe have turned Newcastle toward prominence, a place at the height of the Premier League that would place the club alongside the finest outfits in the business; they are working toward it.

Reliable goalscorers are fundamental parts of a high-performing team. Newcastle struggled for purchase in the final third for many years before particularly Isak signed his contract, and though there have been flashes of brilliance across the past few decades, it might stretch back to Alan Shearer‘s time since such a standard of focal frontman plied their trade in black and white.

Alan Shearer’s record at Newcastle

There are certain sportspeople who etch themselves into lore, carving themselves not into their sphere’s history books but onto the front cover. From time immemorial.

Over in Newcastle, Shearer did just that, though, of course, the striker-turned-pundit is a household name across all of Britain, with his haul of 260 goals in the Premier League a feat matched by only… no one.

Harry Kane, 31, looked to be sidling on up to him across a career of clinical shooting with Tottenham Hotspur, but the England record scorer’s transfer to Bayern Munich has preserved Shearer’s record. Much to Tyneside’s relief.

The 54-year-old is one of football’s finest-ever goalscorers, with most of his football coming for his boyhood club, where he notched 206 goals and 58 assists across 405 matches in all competitions, winning United’s Player of the Year four times.

The Newcastle legend famously made his £15m switch from Blackburn Rovers in the summer of 1996, just over one year after winning the Premier League with the Blues and Whites, a trophy which would prove to be the sole major honour of his career.

Nonetheless, he graced St. James’ Park with his prowess over a decade, completing ten seasons in the English top flight for the Toon. Though they tried, Newcastle failed to replace their lionised forward across the duration of the gloomy Mike Ashley era.

Speaking of Isak, Shearer has said that “everything about his game is of the highest quality“, which certainly bodes well for the 25-year-old’s future success in the Premier League.

Newcastle might never have shelled out the club-record £63m fee for the Sweden international had a former striker, believed to be Shearer reincarnate, reached the envisaged heights.

But Aleksandar Mitrovic was sold before he hit his peak, having struggled to bring it all together for Newcastle.

Aleksandar Mitrovic was supposed to be Shearer 2.0

Just over nine years ago, Newcastle signed Mitrovic from Belgian club Anderlecht for £13m on a five-year deal, believing they had signed one of Europe’s most talented young forwards for a bargain price.

Speaking on the transfer, he said: “There will be pressure here, for sure, but I like pressure. I also know about the famous players who have played for Newcastle United, like Alan Shearer who is a hero of mine. I hope I can play like him for this club. It will be an honour.”

Though he enjoyed a rich career in London, with Fulham, Mitrovic found that he ebbed and flowed between divisions and as such was unable to showcase his skills to their full extent, at the very highest level.

For that reason, Newcastle were probably right in cashing in on the Serbia international for a fee of £22m back in 2018, having failed to sustain a vein of prolificness at the club before moving on loan to the Cottagers and doing well. It was a no-brainer, in some respects, but Rafa Benitez’s decision pulled a high-class goalscorer away from the club at a time of great need.

The hulking centre-forward’s first campaign with Newcastle saw him score nine goals and add four assists in the Premier League, but he lost his growing Midas touch after United fell into the second tier that summer and was duly loaned out the season after.

Oh what could have been. Especially when considering that the 30-year-old actually carried the perfect properties to forge a successful career for himself at Newcastle. Indeed, according to ex-England manager Roy Hodgson, the frontman was “a bit like Alan Shearer” in that he offers a fierce strike and holds the ball up really well, with nice link-up play to boot.

Mitrovic’s efforts in England since leaving Newcastle have showcased enough to suggest that he could have played a long-term role at the club, had he been afforded more time to grow into his skin, had United’s conditions been less turbulent.

He had actually bagged 14 times across just 22 Premier League matches last year before signing for Al Hilal over in the Saudi Pro League for a reported £50m figure, forcing his way toward the riches of the Gulf.

Though the Serbian has left a career in England laden with goals, he has bobbed between the Premier League and Championship and might have been better off sticking with Newcastle. Had he done so, he could have been the starring talisman to guide the club toward an exciting new PIF era.

Given that Mitrovic’s sale saw the Magpies turn a profit after producing creditable results on Tyneside, his time at the club can’t go down as that of a severe blunder, but since he was once likened to Shearer, it would be fair to say that he didn’t reach his potential.

Related

Not just Toney: Newcastle made a big error selling “Vinicius quality” star

Newcastle United could be left to rue this decision for some time.