Fulham plot £20m Newcastle raid as Scott Parker eyes Dwight Gayle to lead promotion charge

Striker Gayle scored 24 goals last season while on loan in the Championship at West Bromwich.

Now Fulham boss Scott Parker wants the 29-year-old to lead his club’s bid to bounce straight back after relegation in May.

Stoke have already offered £20m for former Crystal Palace and Peterborough striker Gayle.

The hotshot’s future at St James’ Park is uncertain with doubts over manager Rafa Benitez’s position.

Parker wants to rebuild his side, and though Fulham are desperate to keep last season’s top scorer Aleksandr Mitrovic, the striker wants Premier League football and could still leave.

The Cottagers London rivals Palace and West Ham are both interested in prising Mitrovic away from the west of the capital.

Attacking options Ryan Babel and Lazar Markovic were released by Fulham at the end of last season

While both Andre Schurrle and Luciano Vietto departed at the end of their loan spells, further depleting Parker in the forward department.

Londoner Gayle has another two years of his Newcastle contract left, but the club could look to capitalise on a player who cost them only £10m when he signed from Palace in 2016.

Gayle’s goalscoring exploits, as his replacement Salomon Rondon initially struggled at Newcastle, left former Tottenham midfielder Jamie Redknapp perplexed by Benitez’s decision to loan him out.

“Why on earth did Newcastle let Dwight Gayle go on loan to West Brom? While his replacement Salomon Rondon has not scored in the league, Gayle has eight goals in his last 10 league games,” Redknapp said last Autumn.

“Newcastle struggled in front of goal once again in their home defeat by Brighton and the players must be running out of patience with Rafa Benitez.

“Newcastle’s players are not as bad as results and performances suggest but they are being hamstrung by their manager’s negative tactics.”

source: express.co.uk