Alan Shearer delivers honest verdict on £5m ex-Newcastle United ace set for Champions League final role

Alan Shearer has given his verdict on Joselu’s time at St James’ Park as he prepares for Saturday night’s Champions League final. Real Madrid face Borussia Dortmund at Wembley this weekend with both teams aiming to be crowned champions of Europe.

For Madrid, a win would mark their 15th European Cup and Champions League trophy. One man that could lead them to that is former Stoke City and Newcastle United striker Joselu. The 34-year-old has enjoyed a late-career renaissance with form at Deportivo Alaves and Espanyol earning him a loan move to Los Blancos and a place in Spain’s Euro 2024 squad.

However, it hasn’t been plain sailing for Joselu who endured a difficult time in the Premier League and particularly at Newcastle United where he scored just seven goals in 52 games. The Magpies paid Stoke City £5m in August 2017 to sign the Spaniard after he netted four goals in 22 Premier League appearances for the Potters during the 2015/16 campaign before spending the next campaign out on loan in La Liga.

However, this weekend could see Joselu lift the biggest trophy in European club competition and ahead of that game Shearer has discussed Joselu’s impact at St James’ Park and the difficulties he faced as a striker during his short spell with the club. Shearer wrote on the Athletic: “I had plenty of opportunities to see Joselu during his two years at Newcastle. It wasn’t easy playing up front for my old club at that point — they weren’t producing anywhere near as many chances as the likes of Callum Wilson and Alexander Isak get these days. Still, seven goals from 52 games underlines the fact that Joselu didn’t make much of an impact.”

He continued: “But I don’t want to be disrespectful — he’s just scored two goals for maybe the biggest club in the world to get them to the Champions League final. He might score the winner in the final. He’s obviously not top, top quality, but there’s something in there that they thought, ‘He’ll do, we’ll take a gamble on him’. And centre-forward play itself is all about gambling.”