Newcastle are considering an “elusive” £25million winger

Newcastle they are currently in the top four, fourth in Premier League after 22 played games on 38 points.

The Magpies have averaged 51.5% possession this season (10th in the league), while taking 14.1 shots per game (7th most) and scoring 38 goals so far (6th most).

It is said, Eddie Howe The team’s excellent run of form came to an end this weekend after they lost 4-1 to Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth.

They were 1-0 down after just six minutes before Bruno Guimaraes equalized at 1-1 in the 25th minute. But from that point on, the Cherries scored three more, finishing off Newcastle and taking all three points.

Alexander Isak struggled to get involved against Bournemouth, leaving much of the attacking threat to the wingers, who also failed to impose themselves on the game.

WITH Miguel Almiron will leave Newcastle this monthThe Magpies could bolster their attacking options with competition for Jacob Murphy on the right of attack.

Newcastle are looking for a new winger

According to reports from Turkish newspaper Hurriyet (via GiveMeSport)Newcastle are one of several Premier League clubs showing interest in £25million Galatasaray winger Baris Alper Yilmaz.

The 24-year-old was even with interest from Liverpool in the summer, after a strong EURO 2024 campaign.

Despite being right-footed and starting as a left winger, with the ability to cut on his strong foot and shoot. In recent years, Yilmaz has started playing more on the right, being more direct, dropping into central pockets in the right half to be closer to the goal while still having the ability to receive it from outside.

Yilmaz has he has made 28 appearances so far for Galatasaray this seasonscoring 11 goals, one assist and playing a total of 2218 minutes. The Turkish international can play a multitude of positions, including right wing, left wing, center forward and even full back if needed.

How Yilmaz compares to Anthony Gordon

Much of Newcastle’s big threat this season has come from Anthony Gordon on the left, with Murphy also picking up form in recent weeks, particularly as a creator for the likes of Isak.

Gordon has he has made 27 appearances so far in the 2024/25 seasonscoring eight times and adding five assists, while Murphy has scored three goals and seven assists in 21 appearances.

But how do the underlying numbers compare? Here is the answer.

Already alongside Murphy, who has added creativity on the right this season, the goal-scoring right winger with an eye for goal seems the right choice to recruit, a bit more direct in his actions. Yilmaz fits the bill for this, being more similar to Gordon in terms of directness and impact (seen by the goals scored at 90, as well as his xG and xAG numbers).

Virgil van Dijk praised the 24-year-old after meeting him at Euro 2024, calling the winger “elusive“, making it difficult for defenders to track him. Making 1.70 successful tackles per 90 and averaging 5.11 shot creation actions per 90, you can see why the Turkish star is a handful for defenders. With those stats, it’s no surprise to see his former coach Ilker Puren says the forward’s level is “close to Phil Foden’s now”.

Adding Yilmaz in this window to replace Almiron would give Newcastle another goalscorer in the side, taking some of the burden off Isak and allowing Howe to change his game plan using different wings, with different attributes, to influence the game.