The key stat that justifies Chris Wood's £25m transfer to Newcastle United – only Liverpool, Arsenal, Leicester, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur players have scored more since 2017

The New Zealand forward is undergoing a medical on Tyneside ahead of a reported £25million move.

Such a fee for a 30-year-old is bound to raise some eyebrows, but it could prove to be a shrewd piece of business in today’s market given Newcastle’s current predicament.

Not only are they weakening a main relegation rival in Burnley, they are also getting a striker who is statistically one of the best Premier League goalscorers realistically available to them.

Although he only has three goals for a misfiring Burnley side this season, Wood has scored 49 goals in 144 games since joining the club in 2017.

A one in three record is solid considering Burnley aren’t prolific when it comes to scoring or creating chances. Even the season they came seventh, they averaged less than a goal a game.

Strikers are hard to come by in the transfer window, particularly in January from rival clubs in a relegation battle. And there are only eight current Premier League players who have scored more league goals than Wood since he arrived at Turf Moor.

Mohamed Salah arrived at Liverpool during the same transfer window Wood arrived at Burnley. The Egyptian has scored more top-flight goals than any other player since with 111 to his name.

Harry Kane isn’t too far behind with 92 goals for Tottenham Hotspur since the start of the 2017-18 campaign. Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy has scored 85 in that time.

Raheem Sterling is one of only three players to have scored more goals than Wood and not won a Premier League golden boot with 72 goals for Manchester City. The other two are Heung Min Son with 60 goals for Spurs and Alexandre Lacazette with 53 for Arsenal, just four more than Wood has scored for Burnley over the same period.

Sadio Mane has scored 69 goals for Liverpool since 2017-18 while Arsenal forward Pierre Emerick Aubameyang has netted 68 times.

All of the aforementioned players are unrealistic options for Newcastle this month – with one notable exception.

Wood may not be the glamour signing you expect from the ‘richest club in the world’ but his goal return since 2017 goes a long way to justifying his price-tag.

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