Newcastle's rivals have now agreed a deal worth up to £73.7million with RB Leipzig and the striker's Old Trafford switch is expected to be confirmed in the coming days.
[Newcastle](https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/football/newcastleunited/) agreed a deal with Leipzig earlier this week but Manchester United then made an offer of their own and the Magpies learnt that the striker's preference would be a move to Old Trafford.
At that stage, Manchester United hadn't agreed a deal with the Bundesliga club, but an agreement - worth 76.5m euros (£66.3m) plus a potential 8.5m euros (£7.4m) in add-ons - has now been reached.
The Slovenia international has been granted permission to travel to Manchester to undergo a medical and complete the move.
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It's yet another major setback for Newcastle in what has turned into a nightmare summer window, and has a knock-on effect on wantaway Alexander Isak.
Liverpool are still interested in Isak but will not be held to ransom in their pursuit of the 25-year-old.
Isak was made to train by himself on Tyneside on Wednesday after missing the Magpies’ pre-season trip to Singapore and South Korea amid speculation over his future.
Liverpool have had one offer rejected for Isak and are expected to return with an improved bid if and when the Magpies source a replacement.
But as the Premier League champions await completion of Darwin Nunez’s proposed 53million euros – around £46.3million – plus bonuses move to Saudi club Al Hilal, sources on Merseyside indicated they would not enter a bidding war as they sought a replacement.
Newcastle have repeatedly insisted the Swede, for whom they paid Real Sociedad £63m during the summer of 2022, is simply not for sale and with three years remaining on his existing contract, they hold a strong position in one sense.
However Isak, who signalled his intention to explore his options during the current transfer window, has so far resisted all overtures to sign a new, long-term deal at St James’ Park and that appears to have encouraged the Anfield club that they may be able to prise him from head coach Eddie Howe’s grasp.
That said, the Reds are understood to have drawn up a series of criteria which will govern their pursuit of the former AIK Solna and Borussia Dortmund forward, or indeed alternative targets.
Among them are an insistence that any replacement must be of the required quality, must represent fair market value and perhaps most importantly, must be realistically attainable.
In that context, Newcastle’s asking price of £150m – which was designed to ward off potential suitors – would seem a significant obstacle, as would their long-held stance on his availability, although there is little doubt that he would meet the quality requirement having scored 27 goals in all competitions last season.
Having trained alone this week, it's not clear at this stage if and when Isak will be reintegrated into the Newcastle squad, but Howe and the club's recruitment staff have now gone back to the drawing board as they assess their other striker options.
Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson, who is available this summer, has been touted as one option, while Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins is also said to be a potential target.