Determined not to have another target go elsewhere at the last minute, like with Victor Muñoz (£6.5m) and numerous 2025 targets, Newcastle United have successfully sealed a £42 million deal for Hoffenheim winger Bazoumana Toure (£6.0m).
He’s quickly risen from Côte d’Ivoire to Swedish to German football, now about to play in a fourth country.
So, can the 20-year-old adapt quickly and make an impact in Fantasy Premier League (FPL)?
We’ll attempt to answer those questions below.
THE HISTORY
Born in Bouaké, Toure started at the noted Ivorian talent developer ASEC Mimosas, helping them to a league title.
| SEASON | TEAM | DIVISION | STARTS (SUBS) | GOALS | ASSISTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/26 | Hoffenheim | German Bundesliga | 29 (1) | 5 | 9 |
| 2024/25 | Hoffenheim | German Bundesliga | 7 (6) | 0 | 3 |
| 2024 | Hammarby IF | Allsvenskan | 20 (3) | 9 | 3 |
He moved to Swedish side Hammarby IF in early 2024 at the age of 18, finishing second under now-Middlesbrough boss Kim Hellberg.
Nine goals in 23 Allsvenskan matches caught the attention of Hoffenheim, whose February 2025 purchase gave Bajen a big profit.
Toure firstly helped his new club fight off Bundesliga relegation, before a full campaign featured five goals, nine assists and fifth-place Europa League qualification.
Continuing the meteoric rise, he picked up his first Côte d’Ivoire cap last October and netted twice during three Africa Cup of Nations cameos. Just now, at the 2026 World Cup, Toure started against Ecuador and featured twice more.
PLAYING STYLE
Interestingly, he isn’t an inverted attacker, like most wide men of this era.
A fast and fearless touchline winger, he was the Bundesliga’s third-best player for open-play crosses (98) and fifth at successful dribbles (48). Nobody outdid his 763 sprints.
In relation to other wingers in the ‘top five’ European leagues, Sky Sports reveals better-than-average rates of cross completion and winning aerial duels – despite being only 5’8″ – alongside a poor passing accuracy.
So, while DataMB shows the youngster matches and even betters Muñoz and Anthony Gordon in areas like crossing, dribbling, carrying the ball and creating chances, his decision-making and execution are current weaknesses.
Matthias Jaissle will hope to add variety and trickery to his play, as Toure is slightly predictable in always taking the outside route.
As for an instant comparison, the Bundesliga website says he boasts “a Herculean work rate” and resembles Karim Adeyemi. Whereas a graphic from The Athletic sees a strong correlation with Yankuba Minteh (£6.0m), Dango Ouattara (£6.5m) and numerous Nottingham Forest wide men.
WHERE TOURE FITS IN AT NEWCASTLE
It isn’t a stretch to call him Gordon’s long-term replacement. However, the Magpies have invested in Toure’s high ceiling and willingness to learn rather than his current rawness.
“I remember previously he had scored some goals for Hammarby, but he had not scored a header at the time. The day before a game, our coach [Hellberg] said, ‘Bazou, I want you to go to the first post and head the ball’. He went on to score two headers in that game. He’s really adaptable at taking tactical advice.” – Former Hammarby team-mate Nahir Besara
With Harvey Barnes (£6.0m) around, he might be eased into competitive first-team action. Tactically, it’ll be good for Jaissle to have a variety of left-sided styles, rather than both Barnes and Gordon cutting inwards.
The brilliant Lewis Hall (£5.0m) should offer support from left-back and, although Newcastle’s trio of forwards don’t inspire confidence of such crosses being converted, the team just finished fourth for successful open play crosses (127)
IS TOURE WORTH BUYING IN FPL?
With Newcastle short on numbers, some of the newbies should start in Gameweek 1. In Toure’s case, however, he has Barnes to compete with.
The opener is also at home to Liverpool, a club Newcastle haven’t beaten in 19 league meetings.
Beyond that, some hope. Our Fixture Ticker claims they have the best schedule across the first 10 Gameweeks.
A further possible boost is that, while Newcastle struggled to handle both European commitments and Premier League football, the Magpies aren’t in this situation for 2026/27.
If they can learn how to hold onto leads, rather than throw away 27 points from such a position, and fix a couple of huge squad weaknesses throughout this revamp, there is the potential for a respectable finish.
Newcastle have a good history with players who were also at Hoffenheim – Fabian Schar, Joelinton and Demba Ba – so hopes are high on Toure.
They’re putting faith in Jaissle being able to maximise the winger’s ability to burst past full-backs and whip in a cross, while slowly improving his passing and shooting weaknesses to eventually add another dimension.
Wait and watch for now – but if there are decent early signs, Gameweek 5 might be a good time to reconsider.
