He’s scored 50 goals in the last three seasons
It may not be something that Newcastle United’s desert-dwelling owners are accustomed to but when it rains, it pours for Magpies fans and as they prepare for yet another big-name spurn in the transfer window this time from Benjamin Sesko, there’s only player who can save their summer now.
Similarly, having spent big to bring the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia and attracted a host of household names and Andre Gray to the Middle East, rejection isn’t something the Public Investment Fund (PIF) has had much experience in dealing with.
Yet like a spotty teen approaching prom night, bombshell targets Liam Delap, Bryan Mbeumo, Joao Pedro and Hugo Ekitike plus James Trafford, Dean Huijsen and likely Xavi Simons (decent seven-a-side team in there) have all lined up to give Eddie Howe the cold shoulder.
To make matters worse, the PIF is actively strengthening Newcastle’s rivals by funneling a potential £43.7 million into Chelsea’s coffers for Joao Felix, and £56.6m to Liverpool, Howe’s tormentors-in-chief this summer, for Darwin Nunez.
So having received more snubs than Samuel L. Jackson at the Oscars this transfer window, Newcastle’s striker shortlist includes Nicolas Jackson, Yoane Wissa and Sesko’s teammate at RB Leipzig Lois Openda, who scored nine Bundesliga goals last season from 28 starts.
However, to save face in the transfer market Newcastle need to think bigger and throw everything at capturing their top remaining target: Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins.
One obvious candidate from Newcastle’s shortlist
Watkins is the obvious target, but he’s the obvious target for a reason. Like Watkins, Wissa is approaching 30 so has that age mark against him without the same depth of Premier League and European in the other column while Nicolas Jackson is worse than unproven - so far he’s been a flop in English football and looks nothing like Chelsea’s reported £80m price tag.
Meanwhile left-field alternatives like Victor Boniface and Dusan Vlahovic are dark horses for a reason, and Openda is an interesting if risky proposition. He’s enjoyed an excellent partnership with Sesko in east Germany, with the pair combining for 10 goals in 75 matches together and Openda tallied nine assists in the league last season despite the Slovenian’s injury troubles and Leipzig’s general struggles.
The campaign before that he hit a barnstorming 24 goals in the Bundesliga and created seven more, making his hit rate better than a goal contribution every 90 minutes. Openda’s been similarly effective in Ligue 1 and the Eredivisie for Lens and Vitesse while aged 25, the best should still be yet to come.
Priced at €60m (£52m), he has the potential to be just as successful on Tyneside as Isak has been or dovetail effectively with the Swede if Saudi agents can convince him to stay by reminding him of all the good times, or threatening to dismember him in an embassy. Again.
However, requiring a player to bear the weight of replacing a top three striker in the world while adjusting to the Premier League would be a huge ask and if things go wrong after Isak’s departure, Howe’s options will be limited. Additionally, signing the second-best striker of the seventh-best team in the fourth-best league in Europe isn’t exactly the sort of statement arrival befitting the richest owners in football.
Instead, £80m Watkins is the centre-forward that would announce Newcastle are befitting of their status in the ‘rich seven’.
Ollie Watkins can transform Newcastle
While it’s been a chastening window for the Magpies, fielding a front three of Anthony Elanga, Watkins and Anthony Gordon in front of a midfield boasting Bruno Guimares and Sandro Tonali (and potentially Marc Guehi in defence) would be enough to give fans more than a pint’s worth of hope ahead of the 2025/26 season.
A complete centre-forward capable of dropping deep to link play or stretching the defence - and with the football intelligence to know when which is required - Watkins would be the perfect foil for the Anthonys with his movement and first-class instinct in the penalty area combined with that lethal finish.
With a strike rate of a goal contribution every 1.5 full games in claret and blue, Watkins has hit double-figures in the league in English football for nine consecutive seasons and his golden 2023/24 campaign returned a staggering 19 goals and 15 assists. Master of getting the most out of players particularly in the final third, Howe would surely back himself to help Watkins match or even better those numbers while the Devonian boasts a near-bulletproof injury record and has struck nine times in Europe.
Aston Villa successfully warded off interest from Arsenal in January but with the striker turning 30 in 2025, The Guardian believes they’d now accept around £60m rather than the £80m value of earlier this year. And if Isak departs, Newcastle will have the firepower to make Villa an offer they’d struggle to refuse especially after running so close to a Profit and Sustainability Rules breach.
Bringing in Watkins and someone like Openda or Boniface to develop in the wings while Newcastle fight on four fronts next season would be the ideal scenario to navigate Isak’s departure, but Howe’s main focus for the rest of the transfer window must be convincing a marquee name that the Magpies are a destination club, and Watkins fits the bill perfectly.
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