It wouldn’t be too much of an exaggeration to say that Newcastle United’s entire transfer may hinge on whether or not the club signs Benjamin Sesko.

Having already missed out on a plethora of big names, from Liam Delap and Bryan Mbeumo to Hugo Ekitike and James Trafford, losing out on the 22-year-old would be a true low point of a disastrous window, especially with Alexander Isak still pushing to join Liverpool.

As things stand, we have offered the most money to RB Leipzig, and have agreed financial terms with the player himself, which in most cases would be more than enough to land the signature.

But fears are now growing that the player will instead choose Manchester United over us…

Romano: Sesko “only wants” Man Utd

Late last night, Fabrizio Romano issued a Benjamin Sesko we did not want to read before heading to bed.

With Newcastle and Man Utd waiting to find out who the player prefers to join, Romano stated that the Red Devils now believe that Sesko “only wants to join Manchester United”, with their

Writing on X, he commented: ‘Understand Manchester United’s feeling from earlier today is even stronger tonight.”

‘The club believes Benjamin Šeško only wants to join Manchester United. This comes after the Red Devils submitted an official contract proposal to the player whilst finalising on a fee with RB Leipzig.’

Currently, we have submitted a total package of €90m (£78m) to the German club, whilst Man Utd have gone in marginally lower at €85m (£74m).

On Monday, it’s believed that Newcastle told the Slovenian that he has until Wednesday to make his final decision or would he look to be withdrawing from negotiations.

But Romano’s comments on Tuesday night feel ominous, adding to the feeling that Newcastle are about to miss out on another key target – despite the ‘Champions League pull’ that has barely been a factor all summer, sadly.

Who next if Sesko bid is unsuccessful?

If Sesko is completely off the table, it does likely mean that Alexander Isak will be staying in the North East for the foreseeable future.

But with how demotivated and unhappy the Swede is with his current situation, we still need to continue looking for options up top, and the list of potential names is dwindling day by day.

Ollie Watkins make the most sense, owing to a number of factors: Aston Villa are set to announce the signing of another forward in Evann Guessand, and he has the immense Premier League experience that Howe has been wanting in his summer targets.

Nicolas Jackson would not be cheap and wouldn’t be a popular arrival based on the fan reaction I’ve seen online, not the mention the fact he’d be an expensive risk given his patchy for in front of goal.

The options on the continent are appealing, however. PSG’s Gonçalo Ramos has potential and would only cost £55m, whilst a dream bid for Stuttgart’s Nick Woltemade seems a lot more feasible than it did a week ago, as the German’s talks with Bayern Munich look to have gone quiet after the Bavarians spent big money on signing Luis Diaz.