Newcastle United’s plans for the summer transfer window are taking shape - but do they face a major problem in a key area of the pitch?
Newcastle United have missed out on the signing of Liam Delap this summer, with the Ipswich Town man now on the verge of completing a move to Chelsea. Despite being able to offer him Champions League football, Delap’s move to Stamford Bridge likely comes with more assurances of regular first-team games.
That is something that Newcastle United simply cannot offer Delap, nor can they offer that to any other striker. Alexander Isak is, for many people’s money, the best striker in the world, and would walk into most, if not all, forward lines across the globe.
He will deservedly lead the line for the Magpies next season having netted 52 goals in his last two seasons. The Magpies now face a battle in trying to convince a striker to join, knowing they will play second fiddle to Isak.
Players like Delap and Jonathan David are high-quality options, but neither will want to move to St James’ Park and act as a deputy. Newcastle United don’t want to sell Alexander Isak and movement at the Emirates Stadium, for so long touted as a destination for the Swedish international by Gunners fans, both highlights the problem Newcastle will face this summer and, in the same breath, just how fortunate they are to have a player of Isak’s quality in their squad.
Fabrizio Romano drops Arsenal transfer update
Having been priced out of a move for Isak , the Gunners have seemingly turned their attention towards RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko this summer. Sesko, who rose through the Red Bull system at RB Salzburg before moving to Germany in 2023, scored 21 times for Leipzig last season and has been tipped to be the next big-money player to be churned off the Red Bull production line.
On the links between Sesko and Arsenal, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano wrote on X: ‘Understand Arsenal have started moving initial concrete talks for Benjamin Šeško deal.
‘He’s always been high on recruitment team, management, Mikel Arteta list with attempts to get deal done rejected by Leipzig in May 2024 and January……now Šeško will leave. Arsenal on it.’
The Slovenian striker, though, won’t come cheap and Arsenal will likely have to spend close to a club-record bid to tempt the Bundesliga side into selling. The Irish Independent report that Leipzig will demand £92m for him.
Sesko, who will turn 22 at the end of this month, moved to Leipzig for around a quarter of the fee they are now demanding for his services just two years later. Although this is still an eye-watering amount of money to spend on a player, it is still significantly less than the Gunners would have been forced to pay for Isak this summer had they persevered with a deal for the Magpies man.
Sesko would undoubtedly have been on Newcastle United’s radar this summer - but that kind of fee for a second-choice striker simply does not make financial sense.
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