Towards the end of last season, Eddie Howe expressed his desire for Newcastle United to act quickly and decisively in the summer transfer window.
And weeks later, with just one first team signing brought in, the club looks to have finally been forced to make a move following on from Alexander Isak showing his desire to leave the club.
It’s unfortunately been something so very predictable after weeks of relative inactivity and ‘nearly’ moves, so just how will the club respond?
Well, breaking news regarding one of Europe’s most in-demand players could give an indication as to who we’re going for next…
Star striker Sesko could be solution for Newcastle
According to The Athletic’s David Ornstein, we are reportedly exploring a move for RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko, someone who we’ve long held interest in.
Should Isak depart this summer, Ornstein states that the Slovenian is currently considered a top target, but that it would be a complex, expensive deal to complete.
Contracted to RB Leipzig until 2029, the 22-year-old is said to have a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ with the Bundesliga club that he is free to depart should a bid of around £65m were to come in from a club with ‘the right project’.
With Arsenal set to sign Viktor Gyökeres, and Manchester United rebuked by Aston Villa regarding Ollie Watkins, it does certainly seem that ourselves and the Red Devils are the frontrunners to sign the forward this summer.
Will him and Wissa be enough to replace Isak?
Should Isak leave St James’ Park this window, we can expect the club to demand nothing less than £120-130m, having previously quoted clubs £150m to even open discussions.
Judging by the numbers doing the rounds in the media this week, we could afford to sell Isak, and buy the pair of Sesko and Yoane Wissa for around £100m, and still have money left over.
Of course, Isak’s relative youth and strong Premier League goalscoring experience is something that money can’t buy. Sesko would likely need time to adjust to the Premier League, and the idea of spending £35m on a soon-to-be-29-year-old Wissa has been rebuked by many fans as an overpayment.
It’s something that the club should have done all it can to avoid, but whoever we sign to replace or play alongside Isak this summer will undoubtedly feel like a panic buy.
Signing a player of such high-regard and potential as Sesko is a true statement signing, but at the expense of the club’s top scorer for the past two seasons will no doubt divide the fanbase in a way we’ve not seen since the takeover happened.
We’ve done enough research on Sesko over last 2 years to know what he is capable of. Signing Wissa would take the pressure off Sesko in short term so he settles in, same as Wilson did for Isak.
Keith(Quote)
No player is indispensable like Andy Cole wasn’t, Darren Eales intimated that sometimes you have to trade to move forward.
With our budget and the Isak sale money we should comfortably be able to strengthen the squad overall and bring in the required players.
No use having a sulk in the dressing room.
Joseph(Quote)
We already have the cash for Sesko & Wissa so selling Isak will just allow us to really make an impact on our first XI. Top keeper and CB with a nice chunk to add another 2/3 quality players. McAtee or Elliot. We now know what we have to do. The media onslaught finally got to Isak, once we get at least £130/£140M for him, who cares really. He was always going to leave so why not get ridiculous money so we can continue our journey and move on. Whatever about players, we need to keep Eddie Howe happy, players come and go. Finding a top coach is very tough, we have one of the best in the game. So get him the players he wants now so he can focus on bringing the club forward
Toon_Doc(Quote)
Do it for me. Lost faith in Isaks commitment to the club now.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Take a look at full match replays of Isak`s last half dozen performances and see whether he`s worth what`s being asked. I know he was injured towards the end of the season but those displays?
Austin(Quote)
Is this leaked stories from the club showing Isak they are ‘exploring their options’ too 🤔.
Sharpy17(Quote)
We’d be buying Wissa anyway so he doesn’t need to come out of the Isak money
Alex(Quote)
Isak’s injured too often, his heart is no longer in NUFC, he is looking to break our wage structure. Get rid of him and move on a.s.a.p.
Roger Hopkins(Quote)
Any thoughts on whether it would have been easier for Isak had we not qualified for champions league? We only JUST did so. Some lazy performances towards the end of last season.
Only trying to make sense of something that hurts. Gutted by this. But he gave us incredible memories. I hope the club can sort this out and keep him smiling in the black and white.
Geordie Jones(Quote)
Geordie Jones – I’ve considered is this Isak trying to move coz he’s worried it’s all going to be on him again – the fact we’ve not bought anyone to help him in attack.
He loves the plaudits when it’s going well, but I think feels the pressure when he’s not scoring.
No Wilson now. We missed out on Delap, Pedro and now Ekitike – and are even dragging our heals with Wissa.
Is he getting frustrated with the fact we’ve done nowt in previous windows and are now mincing about in this window.
That maybe me trying to make sense of something that hurts too mate.
If it was that he’d had the taste of winning and wanted PLs and CLs then I could understand that completely. But the narrative seems to be more ‘pay me what I’m worth’.
That might just be the media spin of it – but nobody from the club or Isak himself has come out and corrected these stories, so what are we meant to believe 🤷🏼♂️. He’s not on the plane so it’s defo something.
Sharpy17(Quote)
It’s £££ and wanting to win the PL / CL. All this stuff about broken contract promises or not getting our targets is just excuses from his agents. If he goes to lpool I hope they win nowt, I have a funny feeling slot won’t find it as easy as he did last season again – plus this spending spree heaps a load of pressure on them. That can definitely have an effect. I get why Isak is interested in them but he has a contract so it has to be best for us – we have replacement(s) and the fee is top dollar. We must make a stand and make sure it’s on our terms if he goes, don’t be bullied. I am disappointed in him, I know they are all mercenaries now more than ever but I am surprised he has acted this way it’s definitely not professional to the club that took a chance on him and developed him (Eddie). Cartel psr corruption and media control at its best
East stand(Quote)
totally agree, if his head is not in it, let him walk, just hope we don’t dilly on getting people in, it seems we shout out who we want, then the big six teams jump in, it’s about time we made the shouting something we can do, not just frustrate the fans, and in Isak’s place turns his head.
Roy Chapman(Quote)