Newcastle United had a lot of underperforming wide-men this season, so Eddie Howe is scouring the transfer market to rectify the problem. One player he’s looking at is Dwight McNeil, but Burnley’s 22-year-old may not be the best option as he wasn’t prolific in 2021/22 either.
Ryan Fraser (27 games, 2 goals, 3 assists), Jacob Murphy (33 games, 1 goal, 2 assists) and Miguel Almiron (30 games, 1 goal, 0 assists) contributed only nine goals between them this campaign – one less goal than Allan Saint-Maximin (35 games, 5 goals, 5 assists) managed by himself.
McNeil joined Burnley from Manchester United in 2014 and has gone on to make 147 appearances in all competitions, scoring seven goals with 17 assists. He’s not been the most prolific and only contributed one goal in 38 Premier League games this season, so why would Newcastle want him?
Transfer expert Dean Jones recently poured cold water on their pursuit, revealing there’s a lot of interest from other clubs. He told Give Me Sport: “McNeil, I think they’re going to have so much competition to sign those two. I think half the Premier League wants to sign him, to be honest.”
McNeil has never contributed more than eight league goals in a top-flight season, so the Magpies can surely do better? The 22-year-old created 47 chances, had 90 successful dribbles and whipped in 199 crosses this campaign, but his goal output may put off Newcastle.
In other news, Dean Jones warns Newcastle over Maxwel Cornet pursuit
