6 Goals In 21 Games – Why This Talented Montenegrin Would Be A Fantastic Signing For Newcastle

Why Stevan Jovetic Would Be An Excellent Signing For Newcastle United

If the rumours are to be believed – and I would never encourage believing all the rumours – Newcastle United want Stevan Jovetic to join them from Inter Milan despite the striker not seeking a move.

Rafa Benitez is determined to add to his squad before the summer transfer window ends and a raid on his former club is certainly not out of the question, with bids for strikers such as Tammy Abraham having already failed.

Newcastle are willing to send representatives to Italy to broker a deal with Internazionale for the 27-year-old former Manchester City man; the Montenegrin spent three years with the Citizens from 2013-2016 in what turned out to be a less than a spectacular spell.

His strike-rate isn’t so bad – 8 goals in his 28 appearances at Man City given the in-and-out nature of his time there is a good stat, though he went on to struggle at Inter. Just 7 goals in 33 appearances at the San Siro led to him being shipped out to Sevilla last season on loan and again, he didn’t pull up any trees.

6 goals in 21 league games isn’t worst record you’ll ever see though and so with a ‘glass half full’ view of his stats you could say that he at least always gets goals wherever he goes. If he were to find a settled home, there is every chance he could get somewhere between a 40%-50% strike-rate which would make him very valuable indeed.

Newcastle need someone like that right now as there is no way they can rely on Dwight Gayle, especially given his fragility, and it seems Aleksandar Mitrovic is still not trusted (it’s easy to see why). Another striker is still being sought and as long as the price is right, Jovetic could be the one.

Inter are looking for a fee of around £12.8million and that should be in and around Newcastle’s valuation, certainly within even their budget. He could, therefore, add to the squad and help in erasing Rafa’s frustration. However, a lot depends on where Joselu would be deployed.

Should the new arrival from Stoke be seen as a centre-forward rather than a number ten, then there would definitely be no need for Jovetic at all. But, given Newcastle’s need for someone other than Ayoze Perez to fill the role behind the striker, it could be down to Joselu and that still leaves the striker position vacant at the club.