Newcastle United to skip on Bas Dost, despite being a free

The story of the mass exodus of Sporting CP players has been nothing short of huge. After a group of fifty fans attacked players and personnel following the club’s tumultuous third place finish (I wish we could get mad at something like that here) numerous players have rescinded their contracts citing just cause.

Bas Dost is one of those players, and it comes as a surprise that Newcastle United has made no effort to make a move for him. While he likely may not fit Rafa’s M.O. Dost has long been a target for Newcastle United, with the club missing out on him during Steve McClaren’s reign as manager a couple years ago.

Having scored 61 goals in 61 matches, it’s hard to imagine Newcastle not making a go at Dost when he’s one of the best pure strikers a club can get right now. And he’s a bargain with not transfer fee attached. While his prospective wages may be seen as a problem for Mike Ashley who has complained about wages before, he would be worth a good bit on a one or even two-year contract to give the club a stop-gap striker.

While I’m making a push for Aleksandar Mitrovic to be the top guy, that’s unlikely to happen with how Rafa rates the Serbian. I think it’d be nonsense to not even make a go at Dost, as he’s shown willingness to sign with Newcastle in the past. You can’t win if you don’t try. The club needs to make a go at him.