Newcastle United sold Erling Haaland clone for just £15m - transfer mistake?
Former Liverpool and England striker Emile Heskey has compared Chris Wood to Manchester City goal machine Erling Haaland.
Three years ago, the Magpies turned to Wood in their hour of desperate need. While Tyneside was buzzing following the Saudi-backed takeover, Newcastle were still embroiled in a desperate relegation battle.
Toon chiefs headed into their first January transfer window tasked with keeping the club in the Premier League. With Callum Wilson injured, a striker was essential - and Wood answered the call.
However, his time at St James’ Park proved a missed opportunity, with a measly five goals from 39 games. The New Zealand international helped keep Newcastle afloat but was sold on a year later, with game time limited following Alexander Isak’s arrival.
But supporters have been left stunned by Wood’s dramatic resurgence since joining Nottingham Forest for £15million. The 33-year-old has bagged 28 goals in 62 games, with 12 Premier League strikes this season alone.
Wood’s goal flurry has propelled the Tricky Trees up to joint second in the table. Ex-England international Heskey has now drawn similarities between the striker and Man City ace Haaland.
“I think he's done fantastically, because, obviously I've seen a little bit of him at Leicester, I don't mean it in a negative way, but some people could say Wood's been a bit of a journeyman in terms of playing where he's played,” he told Instant Casino. “He's played for a lot of different clubs, and he's never produced a season like he's having at the moment. He's always had the ability and basically, we know if you supply any striker they score.
“If you go around the world and you're looking at strikers, in my era we had so many strikers. If you go around now you really struggle to pick out ten strikers. In my era you could not only pick out ten, but you could pick out ten from different styles of strikers. Now I think with the way that he plays, it's coming back round.
“You're screaming out for a striker that can hold the ball up. You're screaming out for a striker who can actually be a menace in the box. And it's coming back round now and he's landing on his feet in that sense. Because the only other one who is possibly like that is Erling Haaland. I would say Wood is primed to really reap the benefits of an era that is devoid of many good strikers like that.”