'Newcastle not in my thoughts': January signing admits his shock at securing Toon switch

By Lee Connor

Newcastle United enjoyed themselves in the January window and helped themselves to five new signings to help in their fight against relegation.

In came the big name signings of Bruno Guimaraes and Kieran Trippier, while the pair were supplemented with the solid additions of Matt Targett, Dan Burn, and Chris Wood. Those three, in particular, possess the Premier League ready experience the Toon need right now.

One of the big shocks among those signings was the decision to splash out £25m (BBC) on Chris Wood. The striker has scored just three times this season and wasn’t in the best of form for Burnley. And according to Wood himself, he was as surprised as anyone when Newcastle came calling.

“I’d read the rumours about Mbappe and Haaland and all that sort of stuff. It made you smile, I suppose, on the outside looking in,” Wood told The Telegraph.

“Newcastle were not in my thoughts at all. The interest came as a surprise and it all happened very quickly – in the space of 48 hours. Callum [Wilson] got the injury, Newcastle needed another striker with some presence to lead the line and it was done two days later.”

Wood has played his part at Newcastle already, though. The big striker has been involved ever since he signed and despite no goal as yet, the team have won their last three games.

TBR’s View: Wood Was A Sensible Signing By Newcastle

The reason why Wood worked as a signing for Newcastle was that even if they went down, they had a player who was likely to stick around and contribute heavily in the Championship. That relegation is looking more and more unlikely, and Wood is a key figure at the club.

His sheer presence is helping at both ends of the pitch. If and when Newcastle do stay up, even if Wood hasn’t been prolific, they can still look back on this being a good and successful signing.