Having seen an initial bid of £45m rejected for Anthony Elanga on Tuesday, Newcastle appear to be eyeing alternatives in case there is no chance of striking a reasonable deal with Nottingham Forest.
It had been reported earlier that the trio of Karim Adeyemi, Mohammed Kudus and Johan Bakayoko are on our radar as backups, but each of them has their own pros and cons.
And now yet another Premier League target has had an absurd price tag slapped on him this summer, which could immediately rule us out of making a move.
According to Mark Douglas at [The iPaper](https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/newcastle-target-40m-elanga-bid-3768621?ito=link_share_article-top), Newcastle have shown real interest in Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo but are unlikely to pursue him as an alternative to Elanga due to his whopping £70m price tag.
Douglas writes: ‘The iPaper has been told that Semenyo’s valuation is £70m, with the Cherries under no pressure to sell a player who has been the subject of interest from Tottenham.”
With the club already looking to barter down the likes of Forest and Brighton over Elanga and Joao Pedro respectively, a move for Semenyo may be a non-starter given Bournemouth have already been stripped off several first team stars this summer.
Huijsen and Kerkez have already departed for a combined £90m and PSG are in talks to sign Toon target Illia Zabarnyi, leaving them in no rush to sell Semenyo unless a massive offer comes in.
Newcastle have already shown this window that they will stick to their guns and not be forced into overpaying for any player, with negotiations continuing over deals for Joao Pedro and James Trafford.
Having seemingly been priced out of moves for each of Mbeumo, Semenyo and Elanga, it is time we looked elsewhere?
Chelsea’s Noni Madueke could cost marginally cheaper than the aforementioned wingers, and could even be available at a cut price fee considering Chelsea’s depth out wide and desire to sell to fund their own transfer activity.
Alternatively, the Semenyo and Elanga news might finally inspire Eddie Howe and the recruitment team to look to Europe for options, expanding on the Bakayoko and Adeyemi links.
One only has to look at some of the stars of the current squad; Alexander Isak, Sandro Tonali, Sven Botman and Bruno Guimaraes, to know that the right player won’t need to have previously played in the Premier League to become a success in this side under the right management.