Former Premier League ace Michael Brown believes Newcastle United will need to change their style of play in order to provide more service for the strikers. The Magpies landed the signature of Joelinton in a club-record deal from Hoffenheim last summer but the Brazilian has struggled to make an impact with just one league goal from 25 appearances.

Speaking to Football Insider, Brown said that one can’t be critical about the success of the strikers at St James’ Park, given there has generally been a defensive approach adopted. He added that Edouard could be a useful signing but everything depends on how progressive the Magpies can be with their formation.

“You have to look at the strikers at the football club. I was speaking to Alan Shearer and we both said you would expect more from the strikers but what kind of service are they getting? They play a very defensive set up. Sometimes we have been a bit unfair in criticising the top of the pitch at Newcastle. With Edouard it depends on numbers and how progressive Newcastle can be with their formation. He is scoring goals and people want to take him so I am sure he will be one in the pot,” he told.

The Tyneside outfit are currently on the verge of a takeover from PCP Capital Partners who are backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund. They are likely to make wholesale changes to the squad during the coming years and the progress won’t be quick, considering the Financial Fair Play regulations that are in place.

Still, they can offload a couple of high value players within the squad and that combined with the club revenue should provide them with a sizeable transfer kitty for the summer. Edouard has recently emerged as a possible striker target. The Frenchman has been in stupendous form for Celtic this term and has bagged 27 goals and 19 assists from 45 appearances across all competitions.