Newcastle United’s winning streak is over.

On Saturday, the Magpies suffered a shock 4-1 home defeat at the hands of Bournemouth, falling behind early, only for Bruno Guimarães’ header to level things up mid-way through the second half, but the Cherries hit back on the cusp of half time, before scoring twice more in injury time to rubber stamp an emphatic victory.

Prior to this, the Toon Army had enjoyed nine successive victories across all competitions, achieving this for just the second time in the club’s top-flight history, previously doing so under Kevin Keegan in 1994.

During this period, they’ve moved into the Champions League spots and are on the cusp of the EFL Cup Final, beating Arsenal 2-0 in the semi-final first leg in North London, but Eddie Howe is still seeking reinforcements this month.

Newcastle targeting a new wide-attacker

As reported by Lee Ryder of the Chronicle, Newcastle have “run the rule over” Celtic winger Nicolas Kühn, claiming the Magpies “have sent senior scouts” to Glasgow to examine his performances.

Florian Plettenberg of Sky Sports Deutschland also believes Fulham and Brentford have “enquired” about Kühn, with Celtic valuing him at £30m, according to Mark Pirie of the Daily Record, although his agent Christian Nerlinger claims his client is in no rush to leave.

Kühn joined Celtic from Rapid Vienna for just £3m in January 2024, making little impact during his first half-season in Glasgow, scoring just three goals in 18 appearances, but it later transpired that he was suffering from dental issues, requiring wisdom teeth surgery, unable to eat for almost a fortnight due to the excruciating pain, “resulting in a drastic loss of weight”.

What Nicolas Kühn would bring to Newcastle

Now however, free of any health issues, Kühn has been unstoppable, scoring 16 goals and providing 12 assists across all competitions this season, averaging a goal involvement every 71 minutes.

Ryan McGinlay on Twitter described the German as the “best player in Scotland”, with former Everton, Birmingham and Scotland midfielder James McFadden describing him as “absolutely outstanding”.

So, could the former RB Leipzig, Ajax and Bayern Munich winger soon be departing the run-away Scottish Premiership leaders and move to the Premier League?

Given that both Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon have been free-scoring this season, on target 17 and eight times respectively across all competitions, the Magpies are seeking a right-winger to complete their front three, especially considering Miguel Almirón is close to departing.

So, let’s assess how Gordon and Kühn compare.

Appearances

29

32

Minutes

1,994

2,344

Goals

16

9

Assists

12

5

Shots per 90

2.30

2.38

Shot on target %

48.8%

40.3%

Goals – xG

+1.4

-1.2

Attempted take-ons per 90

1.67

3.08

Take on success %

46.7%

41.3%

Progressive carries per 90

0.90

3.31

Touches per 90

13.8

34

The table outlines that Kühn and Gordon are actually stylistically very different players, but for that exact reason, they’d been an excellent wing combination.

Kühn is much more a goal-scoring wide-forward, emphasised by the fact he’s scored more goals, registered more assists and a higher percentage of his shots hit the target, with the obvious caveat that he’s primarily playing at a lower level, albeit six of his outings have come in the Champions League.

Gordon meantime, is much more a dribbler, accumulating an exponentially greater tally of attempted takes-ons and progressive carries, while touching the ball almost three times as often as the German.

The other statistic worth noting is the fact the Celtic man is overperforming his xG, while Gordon is, to an almost identical degree, underperforming his.

So, envisage this: Gordon getting loads of touches on the ball, and Kühn tucking away opportunities.

The pair would form quite a frightening front three, alongside Isak, who former Rangers player and manager Ally McCoist believes to be “the best all-around centre-forward in the league at this moment”.

Sounds good doesn’t it, Newcastle supporters?

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