Newcastle plan for striker search at recruitment meeting

Scouts based across the globe were brought to Tyneside this week for a recruitment meeting led by sporting director Ross Wilson, with the areas the squad must strengthen over the two windows ahead on the agenda.

Woltemade’s situation is the most immediate question. The German forward is spending the season at Juventus after joining from VfB Stuttgart last year in a club-record deal, and with Juventus meeting his wages, Chronicle Live reports they are best placed to table a bid to Newcastle United. There is currently no purchase option in the agreement, while Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig and Bayern Munich have also been watching.

Steve Nickson, head of recruitment until this month, is no longer part of the group after taking a job at Championship club Wrexham. Technical director Sudarshan Gopaladesikan and Jack Ross, head of football strategy, will sit alongside Wilson, while head coach Matthias Jaissle will set out his own vision.

Chronicle Live reports that line-up as a source of stability after several disrupted windows. Dan Ashworth and Paul Mitchell each left the sporting director role in recent years, and Eddie Howe has stepped down as head coach.

Among the joint signings by Wilson and Jaissle this summer are Nico González, from Manchester City, Lille’s Matias Fernandez-Pardo and Benfica right-back Amar Dedić.

Neither Wilson nor Simon Capper, who oversees the club’s finances, is anticipating heavy spending in January, but the club want to be ready to act should injuries hit.

Wilson explained the thinking behind the new direction to journalists this month.

“I had a clear idea, identity wise, what I wanted [Newcastle United] to look like, which we absolutely shared, our ownership share.

“And the key for us was getting to the end of the window, not to the start of it or halfway through it, to the end of the window and really feeling the identity, and that doesn’t mean it’s perfect, it doesn’t mean that we are over the moon with it, but we’re happy where we’ve got to, structurally in the squad, identity in the squad, identity in the coach, and we want to move forward bravely.”