According to reports, Newcastle United are now eyeing a move for an unusual target in Icelandic striker Vidar Orn Kjartansson as Rafael Benitez seeks more competition up front before the window closes on Thursday night. Vidar has been impressive for all the clubs he has played so far and Premier League looks an interesting challenge to him.
The Magpies managed to end the first three weeks of the Premier League on a positive note after a nightmarish start to the campaign. After losing to Tottenham Hotspur and Huddersfield Town, the Mags saw themselves ousted by Championship side Nottingham Forest in the EFL Cup, which was further compounded by the injuries and suspensions to some first team players.
While Joselu and Aleksandr Mitrovic have opened their campaign quite positively, Benitez believes that his side would need more options for that centre forward role in the long and gruelling season. Players have found it hard to come by at St. James’ Park with very limited financial resources at disposal, and Benitez isn’t on very good terms with owner Mike Ashley for it.
However, getting Vidar isn’t going to cost much as Newcastle are set to land him for only £8 million. The 27-year-old is a largely unknown talent so far, who plays for Israel side Maccabi Tel Aviv. Reportedly, Newcastle United had sent scouts to monitor him when his club played Austria’s Rheindorf Altach in the Europa League qualification round. Vidar scored the only goal there as Tel Aviv won the game. He was on the scoresheet again in the 2-2 draw in the return leg.
Vidar has come up through the ranks of a local club named Selfoss where he broke into the senior team at just 16. He moved to Iceland’s top-flight club IBV in just three years. However, it proved too much for him at that nascent age and he rejoined Selfoss a year later.
He was lethal this time scoring 26 goals in 55 appearances over a span of two seasons. It was followed by a move to Fylkir in 2013 where he scored 13 goals in 22 league starts. That earned him a move to Norwegian side Valerenga, where he built a reputation of a deadly finisher, scoring 31 goals in 33 games in all competitions, and winning the Golden Boot award in the Norwegian Tippeligaen.
It was followed by Chinese Super League side Jiangsu Suning who splurged 35 million euros on him in January 2015, where he scored nine goals in 22 starts. Above anything else, he can constantly find the back of the net and will have a lot to offer to Newcastle United by all means but is he the right man?
