Could it be one free agent striker out at Newcastle, another free agent striker in? It depends who you believe.
Earlier today, talkSPORT reported that the club has held ‘fresh talks’ with Dominic Calvert-Lewin, with news soon following that Callum Wilson had officially left Newcastle United after no new deal was agreed on.
Since then, a couple of conflicting claims have emerged on the former Everton striker, with two local journalists and one from the mainstream media reporting very different things.
Starting with Lee Ryder at The Chronicle, he claims that Calvert-Lewin’s representatives have been in contact with Newcastle again, hoping to find their client a move. However, Ryder insists they were met with a polite ‘no thank you.’
This suggests we’ve moved on from the 28-year-old after a few poor seasons on Merseyside, yet The Telegraph’s Luke Edwards and talkSPORT’s Ben Jacobs suggest we are still keen, to varying degrees.
Edwards states: ‘Dominic Calvert-Lewin is of interest to Newcastle United as a potential replacement for Callum Wilson. He is on the list of targets and free transfer would make sense to provide cover for Isak. However it’s just at the interest stage at moment and player has other options.’
Nothing imminent, but while Ryder reports no interest, Edwards believes he is on Howe’s list of options to replace Wilson, while Jacobs shares a slightly different version of events.
In a Monday night update on X, Jacobs states that we’re keen but reluctant to match Calvert-Lewin’s demands, whether that be wages agent fees or both.
He reports that no offer has been put his way and Newcastle are still assessing where to go next in their pursuit of a new forward, having missed out on Joao Pedro to Chelsea just over a week ago.
Jacobs seems to think Newcastle will only pursue Calvert-Lewin if he reduces his demands from 12 months ago, where we did make a ‘concrete offer’. But even then, it’s thought Newcastle remain wary of the striker’s injury record.
Based on all of the above, I’d suggest there is a very decent chance we look elsewhere. A better option could emerge, it sounds like he may want big wages and his fitness record mixed in with his lack of goals in recent seasons means he may no longer carries the appeal he did a few years ago, even on a ‘free’.