2025 has been a roller coaster ride for Newcastle United.
Back in March, the Magpies’ 70-year trophy drought was finally broken when they defeated Arne Slott’s Liverpool 2-1 in the EFL Cup final.
But the Reds will laugh at Newcastle’s expense in a move that left Eddie Howe’s side badly shaken by signing Alexander Isaac at the end of the summer transfer window.
Howe’s side ended the year with an unconvincing 3-1 win over Burnley, but the Tyneside crowd will be hoping to move up the Premier League table in the new year rather than settle for a middling 10th place.
The new year also brings excitement for the resumption of the January transfer window, with Newcastle expected to be potentially busy…
Newcastle remain in race to sign Premier League attacker
Tuesday night’s scoreline suggested Newcastle were too good for Burnley, but the Magpies were careless with the ball throughout, as seen by Anthony Gordon’s 17 poor deliveries.
It’s entirely possible that Howe will enter the market for new attackers. So he is growing increasingly impatient with the former Everton winger, with Hoffenheim forward Bazmana Toure rumored to be on Thun’s shopping list.
According to the Daily Mail, 16-year-old Leicester City sensation Jeremy Monga is also reportedly attracting attention, but in terms of adding a more exciting and ready-to-play attacker to the first team, Newcastle are also said to remain in the race to sign Manchester City star Oscar Bobb.
In fact, the report states that Borussia Dortmund are leading the charge for the Scandinavian winger at the moment, with loan-to-buy deals worth around £30m in the works.
But it’s not just the Black and Yellows who are interested in them, with Sevilla, Atletico Madrid, AFC Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Newcastle all showing interest, with the Magpies known to keep an eye on developments.
It would be a gamble at the Etihad to pick up Bob, who has been out recently due to injury.
Still, the one-time Premier League title-winner has shown plenty of glimpses of his quality in Manchester and could be seen as a worthy swoop with another Lewis Hall-style signing coming on the table anyway.
Why Bob could be Newcastle’s other Lewis Hall
Hall may have initially raised some eyebrows when he joined last summer for a whopping £28m. The 5ft 10in defender made just 12 senior appearances for Chelsea before packing his bags for North Korea.
But it now appears to have been Newcastle’s inspired decision to sign the two-time England international for that amount, with the 21-year-old decisively winning six duels and completing 100 per cent of his dribbles as a live wire on the left.
Hall, who put on a show at Old Trafford on Boxing Day and completed an impressive seven successful dribbles, was hailed as “one of the best left-backs in the Premier League” by scout Jacek Kulig last year, and it is no exaggeration to say that he has made the left-back position his own at St James’ Park.
Bob will hope he can break into Howe’s starting XI with similar ferocity if the likes of Gordon and Harvey Barnes fail to impress again against Burnley if a move is confirmed in January. That makes him more likely than ever to earn regular minutes as a winger who is comfortable playing in either left or right channel.
Bob’s city numbers by position | ||
|---|---|---|
position | game | Goal + Assist |
RW | 62 | 16+13 |
morning | 31 | 7+12 |
LW | twenty three | 2+3 |
C.F. | 20 | 5+8 |
R.M. | 2 | 0 |
Source: Transfermarkt | ||
The “incredible” attacker, once hailed by former footballer Jan Auge Fjortoft, can also line up as a number 10 or striker if required, just as Hall can move up into the midfield ranks if required. Bob currently has huge numbers for City with 34 goals and 37 assists across various age groups.
Seven of those goal contributions have come for Guardiola’s first team, including an assist against underground side Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier in the season, with City-based content creator Stephen McInerney calling him a “magical” talent and “the perfect modern winger”.
Hall has left an indelible mark as a unique figure in his own right at St James’ Park, with the likes of Dan Byrne filling in on the left and the 21-year-old reaching his full fitness.
Bob will feel he has what it takes to break into Newcastle’s main line-up and do the same. The Oslo-born threat is perhaps just what the Magpies need to pull themselves out of their doldrums in late 2025.
£150,000-a-year failure showed why Newcastle need to sign upgrade in January
Newcastle United unconvincingly beat Burnley 3-1 on Tuesday night as the Magpies player put in another below-average performance.
