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Newcastle have confirmed the permanent departure of Joselu, leaving the club in an awful predicament – they have just one senior striker.

What's the story?

The Magpies have confirmed Joselu has secured a switch to Deportivo Alaves, who finished 11th in La Liga last term.

The Chronicle reported on Monday morning that the striker had not travelled on the squad’s pre-season trip to Asia, replaced by youth talent Elias Sorensen.

The Telegraph have claimed the Magpies are lining up Hoffenheim starlet Joelinton as a replacement.

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A ridiculous predicament

While The Telegraph report claims a deal is “in place” for Joelinton, who bagged ten goals last season, Joselu’s departure puts the club in a truly bizarre situation.

Yes, the Spaniard was dreadful. He scored just seven times in 52 first-team appearances, but after the departures of Ayoze Perez and Salomon Rondon, losing the former Real Madrid man actually hurts the squad more than it should.

Steve Bruce, who is expected to join after quitting on Sheffield Wednesday, will have just one senior striker to choose from in Dwight Gayle, a man who was deemed not good enough for the Premier League by Rafael Benitez.

Gayle was shipped out on loan to West Brom last term, where he did bag 24 Championship goals, and yet he is now the only striker in the squad, not including Yoshinori Muto, who is more typically deployed as a number ten.

The Premier League season kicks off in less than a month, and Newcastle’s only striker with even an ounce of experience didn’t even play for them last year – that is truly absurd.

Of all the things Mike Ashley has done while in charge at St. James’ Park, allowing the club to get to a situation where their striker crop combined for zero Premier League goals last season might just be the worst of the lot. It’s utterly ridiculous and the reported takeover can’t come soon enough.