‘Plenty of opportunities’ - Alan Shearer names Euro 2024 talent who wasn’t good enough for Newcastle United

Alan Shearer has been baffled by Newcastle United flop Joselu’s dramatic transformation at Real Madrid.

Few Toon supporters would have expected the Spaniard to star for the world’s biggest club given his performances on Tyneside. Joselu arrived from Stoke City for £5million following Premier League promotion in 2017.

Rafa Benitez drafted his compatriot in to provide competition for Dwight Gayle after falling out of favour with Aleksandar Mitrovic. However, the striker failed to impress at St James’ Park, scoring just seven goals in two seasons before being sold to Alaves for £2.5million.

Joselu has since enjoyed a La Liga resurgence which has earned him international recognition. He has earned 10 Spain caps, is on course to feature at Euro 2024 and will be in Real Madrid's matchday squad for this weekend’s Champions League final.

His late double against Bayern Munich last month booked Los Blancos their Wembley date with destiny on Saturday. Ahead of the final with Borussia Dortmund, Newcastle legend Shearer discussed Joselu’s two underwhelming years in black-and-white stripes.

“I had plenty of opportunities to see Joselu during his two years at Newcastle,” he wrote in The Athletic. “It wasn’t easy playing up front for my old club at that point. They weren’t producing anywhere near as many chances as the likes of Callum Wilson and Alexander Isak get these days. 

“Still, seven goals from 52 games underlines the fact that Joselu didn’t make much of an impact. But I don’t want to be disrespectful - he’s just scored two goals for maybe the biggest club in the world to get them to the Champions League final. 

“He might score the winner in the final. He’s obviously not top, top quality, but there’s something in there that they thought, ‘He’ll do, we’ll take a gamble on him’. And centre-forward play itself is all about gambling.”