According to the latest reports, Newcastle United are after Japanese international Yoshinori Muto. The forward currently plies his trade for German outfit, Mainz. He joined them in 2015 and has played a decent role for them over the years. The Magpies are in the lookout for a striker as they struggled to score goals freely last season. They have been linked with quite a few of them but no deal has materialised till now.
Muto is set to enter the final year of his contract and Mainz will not want to lose him for free next season. It’s being reported that the player is valued at £18m and apart from the Toon, West Ham United have also shown an interest in the forward. The player hasn’t reported for pre-season training as of now as he was part of the Japanese squad which caught the eye in the World Cup and is having an extended holiday. However, fresh reports have now emerged that Newcastle United have won the race for the striker and are in advanced talks to sign the player.
The Bundesliga outfit got him for £2.5m in 2015 and they are set to make a good profit on the player given his current valuation. Last season, he managed a tally of 10 goals and assisted a further 5 in 30 appearances. The Magpies will definitely hope he will be able to come up with better numbers if they manage to bring him to St. James Park.
Muto is a versatile forward as he can play down the wings as well. However, the Premier League will be the biggest test of his career and it will be interesting to see whether the Japanese forward will be able to adapt to the challenges of the English top flight. Many consider Bundesliga closest to the Premier League in terms of similarity, so a three-year experience in Germany should stand him in good stead.
The Toon might have finished 10th last season but they were lacklustre in front of goal. The likes of Joselu and Dwight Gayle had a disappointing season as they were found wanting. A tweak in strategy in the latter half of the season did produce some good results as Benitez started using the formula of two strikers up front and Ayoze Perez did a decent job when he was given a go in the first-team.
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Benitez is looking at a centre-forward who can hold up play as Perez is likely to play as the secondary striker. Muto is not strong enough to hold up play in the Premier League so it remains to be seen whether he will be a success at Newcastle.
