Newcastle United massively overachieved this season. Despite their monstrous new investment under a different regime, the club is still miles ahead of its projected trajectory.
With this has come the dreamy, and previously unreachable Champions League qualification, which means that Eddie Howe must accelerate his attempts to add sufficient depth to his squad to make it capable of challenging on multiple fronts.
The Magpies have already kickstarted this process with the sensational signing of Sandro Tonali for a whopping £55m and due to their excessive budget they find themselves linked to a flurry of different players.
One of the most high-profile sees Harvey Barnes touted with a move to St James Park, but with Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur also keenly tracking the Leicester City man, it could become a complicated deal.
Therefore, a cheaper and more attainable alternative is available in the form of Jesper Lindstrom.
What’s the latest on Jesper Lindstrom to Newcastle?
According to FootballTransfers, the 23-year-old is keen on a move to Newcastle.
Lindstrom is intent on playing Champions League football next season and is willing to push for a move out of Germany to achieve this, despite generally being happy at Eintracht Frankfurt.
This outlet believes this decision was accelerated by the 2022 Europa League winners' dismal end to the last campaign as they recorded just two wins from their final 13 Bundesliga games as Oliver Glasner was fired in May.
The Austrian was reportedly a mentor to Lindstrom and this has prompted the player to search for a new challenge at a higher level.
It was previously revealed that he could leave the club for around £26m.
Why do Newcastle want Jesper Lindstrom?
The attacking midfielder has been at Frankfurt since 2021 and has made 77 appearances in all competitions, recording 27 goal involvements. He was a pivotal figure in the club’s sensational run to Europa League, providing four assists and playing for 70 minutes in the final, as they secured a penalty shoot-out victory over Rangers.
Domestically, the ten-cap international has also shown himself to be a formidable asset as he was named the Bundesliga Rookie Award last year, as he registered ten goal contributions in the division.
The Dane carried this form into the last campaign, raising his goal and assist tally to 11. He is a player who is constantly improving, and his statistics are similar to that of Harvey Barnes, who will supposedly cost almost double his price at £50m.
Lindstrom is closely ranked to the Englishman in a number of metrics including: goals per shot (0.16 vs 0.13), shot-creating actions per 90 (2.94 vs 3.30), and % of shots on target (42.2 vs 43.4).
Furthermore, although Barnes is an impressive goalscorer, he still has much to improve on regarding build-up play, residing within the lowest 23% in Europe’s top five leagues among his positional peers for passes attempted per 90, pass completion, and progressive passes per 90.
Although a lesser-known name, Lindstrom is described as a “huge talent” and could emerge as an extremely smart acquisition if Howe opts for this route.