Wolfsburg have warned Newcastle United and other potential Premier League suitors off their star striker Bas Dost - revealing they have "no reason" to sell their prize forward. The Magpies are believed to be competing with Southampton, Stoke City and Swansea City for the 25-year-old two-cap Dutch international striker, who is likely to cost at least £12 million if he is to be prised away from Germany this summer. Dost is making serious waves in the Bundesliga this season - he has scored 16 goals in just 23 games for Wolfsburg, including 13 in 14 league matches - and he is being tracked by several European clubs. Most notably, the 6ft 5ins forward created headlines across the continent after he bagged four goals in a 5-4 victory over Bayer Leverkusen in February. Add to that the Dutchmans two breath-taking strikes against Bayern Munich in Wolfsburgs 4-1 demolition of the reigning champions in January, and it is easy to see why the striker is getting noticed around Europe. However, when asked whether or not Dost or his teammate Nicklas Bendtner would be moving anywhere this summer, Wolfsburg's director of football Klaus Allofs told German newspaper Bild:
"Both of them (Dost and Bendtner) have contracts with us and there is no reason for us to sell them. "Every time there has been a transfer period open in the past two years, he's been saying he will have to consider his future. We know Bas quite well now."
Dost is a forward who would offer Newcastle a real target-man figure up front - he is extremely strong and bullies opposition defenders - although there are question marks about the former Heerenveen strikers mobility. Running is certainly not his forte... But a career league goal-scoring ratio of a strike every 2.2 games (93 goals in 205 matches) proves he knows how to find the target with regularity. Alternative reports have claimed that Newcastle have already agreed a £15 million fee with Anderlecht for their 20-year-old Serbian striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, although the Belgian club have denied this. For all the latest NUFC News, Views and Transfers make sure to follow WhatCultureNUFC on Twitter and Facebook.
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
