Newcastle may be regretting the decision to allow Dwight Gayle to leave the club on loan in the summer.

Rafael Benitez was desperate to bring a new number nine to St. James Park in the summer and targeted West Brom’s Salomon Rondon as the perfect man to fire the Magpies up the table. As part of the deal, the Baggies were able to secure the services of Dwight Gayle on a season-long loan. While Rondon is still yet to score for his new club, Gayle has been on fire in the Championship.

The English forward already has six goals to his name at his new club and was recently named the Championship Player of the Month for September. Gayle netted five goals in just five games during the month – more than Newcastle have managed in the entire season so far. Despite there being doubts about his ability in the Premier League, his form suggests Benitez should have given him another chance to impress.

In order to solve their striking crisis, Newcastle should target Frankfurt striker, Sebastian Haller, when the window reopens in January. Valued at £9.9m by Transfermarkt, the Frenchman joined the Bundesliga side last summer and racking up an impressive goalscoring record for Utrecht in the Netherlands. He scored 13 goals in all competitions during his debut season in Germany.

The 24-year-old has started the new campaign in the same vein, scoring three goals as well as notching five assists already this term. Haller would fit seamlessly into Benitez’s system and give the former Liverpool boss a quality option in his forward line. Like Rondon, Haller loves the hold the ball up and is a huge threat in the air; averaging 5.4 won aerial duels per game this season (WhoScored).

Haller can be the man to fire Newcastle out of their slump if Benitez brings him to St. James Park in January.

Newcastle fans, thoughts?