Newcastle United are now expected to go into the January transfer market to provide Eddie Howe with a replacement for Chris Wood.

What's the latest?

It is being heavily reported that Wood is expected to make his departure from Tyneside with Nottingham Forest said to be closing in on signing the New Zealand striker.

Wood's expected exit from St. James' Park is expected to bring in around £15m of the £25m the Toon originally spent on Wood back in the previous January window.

As a result, this leaves Howe's options limited to Callum Wilson and Alexander Isak up top but insider Dean Jones has been told to expect some movement this month.

Speaking on the Ranks FC Patreon page, Jones claimed he'd been told Newcastle would only sell Wood if they had a potential replacement lined up:

“I would imagine and have been told always that if Chris Wood leaves, it means they've got something else lined up. That could be tasty because Newcastle don't tend to mess around with signings anymore. They go for the real deal. So that could be a good one.”

Moving on up

It is probably fair to say, although expectations may not have been that high, Wood's time on Tyneside has been pretty underwhelming.

The 31-year-old made 39 appearances for Newcastle in the year he's been at St. James' Park, however, he has only been able to provide a return of five goals (via Transfermarkt).

And perhaps the final straw for Howe was the FA Cup display against Sheffield Wednesday which saw Wood miss a golden opportunity in an unexpected loss for the Magpies.

Although Wood was not one of the glamourous arrivals on Tyneside like Bruno Guimaraes and Sven Botman, the striker has struggled to make a name for himself like Dan Burn has managed at the back

Despite not being the success story some may have hoped for, not replacing Wood could be a big mistake from the Toon given their current options up top.

Wood and Isak are two strikers which have proven themselves to be much more reliable in front of goal than Wood during their time at Newcastle.

Isak has only played a handful of games, the Swede has returned three goals in his four league appearances and Wilson has maintained his impressive form for the Toon.

Although the duo have proven reliable in front of goal, they have both proven incredibly unreliable through the injuries they both regularly sustain.

Wilson is a frequent absentee through injury and Isak's time on Tyneside has been riddled with setbacks.

And with Jones suggesting Newcastle now don't hold back in the market, it will be interesting to see who they potentially replace Wood with.