Club have missed out on a slew of transfer targets and are facing a double blow with Isak and Sesko
Alexander Isak returned to Newcastle training for the second day this week. The striker had spent last week at his former club Real Sociedad in Spain, recovering from a minor thigh injury that was unnoticeable in scans but apparently enough to keep him from joining the Toon army in Asia.
He then flew back into England on Saturday, a couple of days before Eddie Howe’s squad came back from the east. The player’s return to the club’s Benton base for two days in a row reduces at least the likelihood of a rift but there remains a transfer puzzle to solve.
Newcastle have remained firm in their stance that Isak will not be sold this summer and rejected a £120m bid from Liverpool. While the Swede has made it known he wants to explore a move away, he is in fact not actively forcing a transfer. The question is whether he will do so.
The Magpies are facing more than just the prospect of their star striker departing this summer, however. Efforts to sign another top-quality forward to complement – or even replace him if he leaves – have been hugely unsuccessful.
The club have missed out on a litany of targets this transfer window, failing to sign Liam Delap, Joao Pedro or Hugo Ekitike for the No 9 position. All of those players preferred to play elsewhere in the league.
Newcastle have now also made two bids for RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko, with the second reaching at least €80m after the German club deemed the first bid insufficient.
But interestingly, Manchester United have also submitted a similar offer for the player, and sources say Sesko may be allowed to choose between the two clubs, and is leaning towards United.
Missing out on the Slovenian would be a huge blow for the Magpies. Not only would it mean that they have had four different forwards prefer another club in the Premier League this summer, it would also be the second time this summer a Manchester club would swoop in and snatch a player from their grasp, after City signed James Trafford.
If such a scenario were to play out, surely the club would then be desperate to keep Isak this summer. Their other target is Brentford’s Yoane Wissa, but that move is also proving difficult. The Bees have refused to sell after already losing two key players and their coach this summer.
With the Premier League opening weekend fast approaching, a positive end to the two situations with Sesko and Isak would mean all the world to the Tyneside club and their supporters. Could there be some relief at the end of this nightmare of a summer?
