Elanga's dream CF: Newcastle exploring move for £50m Ekitike alternative
da poker： Newcastle United supporters are starting to get excited ahead of next season.
da apostaganha： On Friday, Anthony Elanga was unveiled as the Magpies’ first summer signing, arriving from Nottingham Forest for a reported fee of £55m.
Now, will Eddie Howe add more attacking firepower to his front line?
Newcastle's search for a new striker
Elanga’s arrival makes him the second-most expensive signing in Newcastle United history, behind only compatriot Alexander Isak.
Newcastle’s most expensive signings
Players
Year
Selling club
Fee
Alexander Isak
2022
Real Sociedad
£63m
Anthony Elanga
2025
Nottingham Forest
£55m
Sandro Tonali
2023
AC Milan
£55m
Anthony Gordon
2023
Everton
£45m
Joelinton
2019
Hoffenheim
£40m
Harvey Banres
2023
Leicester City
£38m
Sven Botman
2022
LOSC Lille
£35m
Bruno Guimarães
2022
Olympique Lyonnais
£33.5m
Tino Livramento
2023
Southampton
£32m
All information courtesy of Transfermarkt
Now though, the Toon Army could be about to spend big again because, as reported by Craig Hope of the Daily Mail, Newcastle are exploring a move to sign Brentford striker Yoane Wissa.
The DR Congo international is also reportedly a target for Tottenham, with Sam Tabuteau and Dom Smith of the Evening Standard noting that the Bees value him at around £50m.
The other striker on the Magpies’ list is Hugo Ekitiké but, as documented by Luke Edwards of the Telegraph, Eintracht Frankfurt are only prepared to sell the Frenchman for his £86m release clause, so could Wissa become Newcastle’s primary target?
Why Yoane Wissa would improve Newcastle
Wissa joined Brentford from Lorient in the summer of 2021, following the Bees’ promotion to the Premier League, for a reported fee of £8.5m and, fair to say, this has proved to be money well spent.
He has scored 49 goals in 149 appearances for the West London-based club, bagging 19 in the Premier League last season, a tally only bettered by Mohamed Salah, Isak, Erling Haaland, Chris Wood and teammate Bryan Mbeumo.
Then-Brentford manager Thomas Frank described Wissa as a “super player”, adding “he’s got that nose for goals”.
Meantime, Mark Bruce of Breaking the Lines believes he is the most underrated forward in the Premier League, outlining his threat as a penalty box poacher.
So, let’s take a deeper dive into his statistics.
Wissa Premier League statistics 2024/25
Statistics
Wissa
PL rank
Minutes
2,919
53rd
Goals
19
6th
Non-penalty goals
19
=2nd
Expected goals
18.5
4th
Shots
90
10th
Shots on target
41
5th
Touches in the box
163
14th
Statistics courtesy of FBref.com
As the table outlines, Wissa is a top-level penalty-box striker, ranked joint-second in the Premier League for non-penalty goals last season, despite being down in tenth in terms of shots, underlining his clinical edge.
This would make him a dream signing for new man Elanga, given his proficiency when it comes to chance-creation, as documented in the table below.
Elanga’s Premier League statistics 2024/25
Statistics
Elanga
PL rank
Assists
11
3rd
Completed crosses
8
52nd
Shot-creating actions
102
30th
Goal-creating actions
18
6th
Big chances created
9
38th
Progressive carries
102
25th
Statistics courtesy of FBref.com and SofaScore
As emphasised by the numbers, only two players, namely Salah and new teammate Jacob Murphy, registered more assists than Elanga in the Premier League last season, while the Swede also ranked very highly when it comes to chances created and progressive carries.
He formed an exceptional partnership with a former Magpie, the aforementioned Wood, firing Nottingham Forest into Europe, so he could do the same with Wissa in the North East.
Thus, should Newcastle get a deal over the line to sign the DR Congo international striker, he and fellow new recruit Elanga could form an unstoppable partnership.
Related Agent of £70m+ striker contacts Newcastle, scored 50+ more goals than Ekitike
The Magpies could face an intriguing proposal.