In case it has somehow slipped your attention, Newcastle United have signed Anthony Elanga from Nottingham Forest, hopefully kickstarting a flurry of activity in the transfer market for Eddie Howe.
It took longer than we were all hoping, but Newcastle are off the mark in the transfer window, finally, and now that Elanga is through the door, it's time to move on to other targets.
There's still confidence that a deal for James Trafford will be completed this summer, although Newcastle and Burnley are thought to still be far apart on their respective valuations.
Meanwhile, Craig Hope has now confirmed what Keith Downie had said earlier in the week, that Newcastle would shift their focus to finding a new striker once the Elanga deal was tied up.
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Craig Hope named two targets in his NUFC striker update
Hope names two targets in his post on X but also hints that there are other names being considered, and it sounds like they are covering all bases.
"🐝 Newcastle striker search now in full swing & a move for Yoane Wissa is being explored, among others
"🇫🇷 Hugo Ekitike also on the list
"🤔 Different profiles & prices among targets & options being weighed up ahead of approaches #nufc"
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Newcastle's striker signing will end up being someone completely different to Wissa and Ekitike
We've had our say on both Wissa and Ekitike. Both would be great signings for different reasons, but as things stand, both are difficult to get done. Wissa's asking price is way higher than expected at around £40 million. He turns 29 in August, which means he's unlikely to hold any resale value down the line, but at the same time, he bagged 20 goals last season for Brentford, and that kind of money makes sense for someone in that kind of form.
Hugo Ekitike is the 2020s Bas Dost as he is linked in every window. he's another one who would be an amazing signing, but making that work when Alexander Isak is still here is going to be very, very difficult.
We'd love to know some of the other names on the list, and we're sure we'll find out at least one of them when we announce a signing nobody saw coming as is often the case with Newcastle. We are, after all, Smokescreen FC.