Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe appears keen to rekindle the club’s interest in Atalanta striker Duvan Zapata, with the Colombian marksman having reportedly been a target for the Magpies back in January.
The suggestion at the time was that the Tynesiders had seen an offer rejected to bring the 34-cap forward to St James’ Park on an initial loan deal, with the then-relegation strugglers settling on Burnley’s Chris Wood instead for a fee of around £25m.
Recent speculation has now claimed that the northeast side are again interested in prising the 31-year-old from Bergamo in order to bolster their attacking options, albeit with the top-four hopefuls believed to be unwilling to pay more than €12m (£10m) to bring the former Sampdoria man to England.
It could well prove a bullet dodged if Dan Ashworth and co are unable to seal a move for the 6 foot 2 hotshot – who still has 18 months left to run on his existing deal in Italy – with the typically lethal forward having endured a miserable start to the new campaign.
The £55k-per-week man has scored just once in his nine Serie A outings so far this season, having been hampered by a hamstring injury of late that has inhibited his involvement for Gian Piero Gasperini’s side.
While the one-time Napoli ace – who has been described as “like a train” by former teammate Papu Gomez – does boast a club career tally of 154 goals, his recent form and injury woes would surely be of concern to Newcastle.
Equally, a move for Zapata would seemingly be yet another short-term fix for the club due to his age, with the Premier League outfit having already been stung by such an addition this year in the form of the aforementioned Wood.
The New Zealand international appeared a “strange” acquisition at the time of his arrival – according to pundit Gabby Agbonlahor – having scored only three league goals in the first half of the 2021/22 campaign at Turf Moor.
The 31-year-old has gone on to net just four times in 33 games in all competitions for Howe’s side in 2022 so far, with pundit Tam McManus stating that the experienced asset now looks a “bit lost” in the current set-up with his long-ball style at odds with the club’s more progressive approach.
Those woes have even seen the former Leeds United man linked with a return to Elland Road in recent times, with a relatively swift exit from the Magpies potentially on the cards.
If Newcastle were to bring in another out-of-form asset in the mid-season window in Zapata it could well see a similar scenario occur, with that no doubt something that PIF would be keen to avoid.
