Dwight Gayle becomes first Newcastle player to achieve feat since Alan Shearer

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Dwight Gayle became the first Newcastle player to score 20 goals in a single season since Alan Shearer during the 2003-4 campaign. Although he has achieved the feat in the second tier, it remains a very impressive achievement and he has proven his ability after his frustrating spell with Crystal Palace. The 26-year-old signed for Newcastle in the summer and there were some initial doubts about whether he was good enough for the club. He quickly proved his self-belief by taking the number nine shirt and hasn’t looked back. Gayle is the first player to hit the 20-goal mark across the top four divisions and there will be plenty more goals to come before the season ends.

The striker is currently averaging a goal every 87.5 minutes, which is an extraordinary rate regardless of what division it is achieved in. His 20^th of the season came yesterday as Newcastle managed to return to winning ways against Brentford and it displayed the qualities that he possesses. Gayle received the ball on the left hand side of the 18-yard box, cut inside one defender and fired a shot into the top right hand corner. It was a great bit of striking play and underlined the threat that he poses in the final third.

This season will feel like one of vindication for Gayle. He scored a Premier League goal every 138.9 minutes for Crystal Palace, which is a good return, but he wasn’t given a sustained run in the first team. His career was stagnating at Palace and it was important that he left before his potential was completely wasted. He ended last season as a loser in the FA Cup final, in which he wasted a great chance to put Palace ahead in extra time. It was a chance that you would have expected him to take, but he was in-and-out of the side and after that match, it seemed like the right time to leave Palace. There may have been a few Premier League clubs interested in his services, but he decided to take a step back to take a bigger step forwards.

It looks like he has done that with Newcastle and is enjoying playing under a manager like Rafael Benitez. On the surface, it may have looked like a backwards step, but Gayle wouldn’t have seen it in that way. He has joined a club that has exciting times ahead under a world class manager and he is thriving under the pressure of being Newcastle’s leading man. A season in the Championship can sometimes do wonders for a player’s career, especially if they are low on confidence, which will have been the case with Gayle.

The next few months will all about promotion for Gayle and Newcastle, but he does have unfinished business in the Premier League. Anybody who has seen him regularly this season will know that Gayle has all the attributes to be a regular scorer in the top flight. He never stops trying to create space for himself and his movement makes him a handful for any team. In addition to his impressive movement, Gayle is an excellent finisher and can also score from range.

Becoming the first Newcastle player to reach 20 goals since Alan Shearer will be the best achievement of Gayle’s career to date. The pressure is now on him to kick on and fire Newcastle back into the Premier League. It will be then that we will see how good Gayle can become. There have been many players that have been too good for the Championship, but not quite good enough for the Premier League. Cameron Jerome is the most obvious example. However, Gayle’s record in the Premier League with Palace was actually decent. If Newcastle are promoted and Gayle is given the chance to continue as their first choice striker, he could surprise many next season and maintain his impressive scoring record in black and white.