Newcastle United sporting director Dan Ashworth was again active last month in order to help bolster Eddie Howe’s squad, with the Englishman notably moving to secure the services of Harrison Ashby and Anthony Gordon from West Ham United and Everton, respectively.
The signing of the latter man was undoubtedly the more high profile of the Magpies’ January business – with Garang Kuol also joining from Central Coast Mariners – as the 21-year-old was snapped up on a hefty £45m deal from Goodison Park.
While that willingness to fork out such a sizeable fee for the Englishman is a testament to the faith that Ashworth and co have in him, it is believed that Gordon was not the only attacking option that the Tynesiders had been targeting, with Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams also having been on the club’s radar.
Did Newcastle want to sign Nico Williams?
According to The Athletic, the 20-year-old starlet was a possible ‘non-English alternative’ to that of the Toffees man for Newcastle, with journalist George Caulkin suggesting that a move for the promising Spaniard had been “discussed” by those at St James’ Park.
That follows reports during the winter window that suggested that fellow Premier League side Aston Villa were willing to meet the player’s £45m release clause, albeit with the forward himself said to have rejected the prospect of moving to the Midlands.
It is difficult to know whether Williams could have been tempted to link up with Howe’s side had the northeast outfit made a firm approach of their own, although nevertheless, it may well prove something of a blunder to have plumped for Gordon instead.
Should Newcastle have signed Williams rather than Gordon?
The Bilbao “sensation” – as described by journalist Shina Oludare – has already made a big impression for the Basque outfit in recent times, having scored seven goals and provided six assists in 26 games in all competitions.
The 5 foot 11 winger now boasts a tally of ten goals and seven assists in just 68 first-team appearances for the La Liga side to date, with the seven-cap speedster having also been part of La Roja’s World Cup squad in Qatar.
The aforementioned Gordon, by contrast, had just three goals to his name and no assists across all fronts this season for the Merseysiders prior to his recent switch, having recorded only seven goals and eight assists in 78 appearances for his former employers.
The England U21 international also appears to lack the dynamic brilliance of Williams as he ranks in just the bottom 39% for progressive carries among those in his position in Europe, while the Pamplona native ranks in the top 6% in that same metric.
Equally, the latter also appears to offer more in a creative sense from his usual left-wing berth as he ranks in the top 15% for progressive passes received, while Gordon only ranks in the bottom 10% in that regard.
Although Newcastle’s new man has ample opportunity to go on and thrive under Howe in the coming years, he has already faced notable criticism in recent times, with Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler (Sunday Mirror, 12/02/2023, page 75) stating that the forward’s price tag was “ridiculous” as he has “hardly done anything” in the game.
Gordon will no doubt be striving to prove the now-retired icon wrong, although it is hard to shake the fact that the club may well have been better served landing a higher-quality asset with the signing of Williams.
