Where Newcastle's 'striker' search could go next as £30m Liam Delap chooses Chelsea

Whether Callum Wilson stays or goes this summer, Eddie Howe needs more options up top as we bid to compete on four fronts next season.

We can't solely rely on Alexander Isak and had clearly identified Liam Delap as an ideal option to bolster our front line.

The Ipswich Town striker is available at a £30m release clause following relegation, but the 22-year-old has decided to join Chelsea instead.

As confirmed by The Athletic's David Ornstein, Delap will sign for Enzo Maresca's Blues, choosing a switch to Stamford Bridge following talks and offers from Newcastle, Man Utd, Everton, Nottingham Forest, AC Milan and Juventus.

So, where do Newcastle go next and why does it now feel very possible that a slightly different route is taken in our search for another forward...

Versatile option could solve Isak obstacle

It's a blessing and a curse, but Newcastle's biggest issue when looking for another No.9 is that any incoming player knows they are unlikely to get many starts while Alexander Isak is fit and firing.

Eddie Howe plays a 4-3-3 with one up top, so a forward who is an out and out striker - like Delap - knows their route to regular starts is limited.

Yes, we'll have the Premier League, Champions League and two cup competitions to contend with over the course of 2025/26, along with Isak's mixed injury record since he arrived on Tyneside, but it is still a tough sell for a striker with aspirations of being the main man.

This is why I believe a versatile forward feels more likely to sign, and may explain links to two Brazilians over the past month.

Brighton star or Bryan Mbeumo?

The Mail's Craig Hope revealed that Matheus Cunha was a top target just last month. He is now set to join Man Utd, but it's thought the club valued his ability to play up front, out wide or even as an attacking midfielder.

Brighton's Joao Pedro is not too dissimilar in his profile and was named as a player of 'serious interest' by Mark Douglas at the i Paper earlier this week.

The former Watford star can play up front and weighed in with 10 goals and seven assists last season, yet showed his versatility by operating as a number 10 and left-winger on several occasions over the 2024/25 campaign.

As it's a hard sell asking an all-out No.9 to compete solely with Isak for that starting birth up top, as we've just found with Chelsea-bound Delap, perhaps our solution is a flexible forward able to operate in a number of roles, increasing their route to games when our star Swede is fit.

Another option is Bryan Mbeumo. Of course, the 20-goal Brentford star is at his best on the right wing and appears to be our top target to fill that role, but he proved in the 2023/24 season during Ivan Toney's absence that he is more than capable of playing as a striker.

Howe loves versatility and the club clearly love Joao Pedro from his time at Watford, so it wouldn't surprise me if we pursued the Brazilian - should Brighton's demands be reasonable - or settled with the versatile Mbeumo should Osula shows signs of progression over the summer.