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The 2025 summer transfer window could take another turn for the worse for Newcastle United, with another potential striker target potentially slipping through its fingers to sign with a different club.
This comes amid Liverpool's continued interest in Alexander Isak, with the Reds having seen an offer worth around $147 million (£110 million) turned down last week. A few days on, Liverpool has agreed to sell Darwin Nunez, with replacing some attacking depth now a priority in the transfer market.
The Uruguayan and Luis Diaz, who joined Bayern Munich, have departed. If Federico Chiesa goes, that will leave only Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah as attackers who were at the club last season.
For Newcastle to be convinced on selling Isak, it will take a British record transfer fee to be tabled to persuade Newcastle to deviate from its firm not-for-sale stance. But the Magpies will also need a replacement.
Having suffered setback after setback in this area, another blow could be imminent. The French outlet L'Equipe reports that while Newcastle has so far failed to reach an agreement with Brentford for 28-year-old Yoane Wissa, Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr have now entered the fray and are prepared to meet the full asking price.
Thus far, the Magpies have only been prepared to shell out around $40 million (£30 million) for a striker whose contract expires next year, but Brentford isn't in a hurry to sell, having already lost key players Bryan Mbeumo, Christian Norgaard and Mark Flekken to competitors this summer.
Wissa might be seen on Tyneside as more of a replacement for Callum Wilson, who left earlier this summer as a free agent. However, Newcastle also seems to have hit a snag in its attempts to secure a potential stand-in for Isak.
According to various reports, Manchester United is growing increasingly confident that RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko will choose them over Newcastle, with offers on the table from both teams.
These two forwards could follow in the footsteps of Hugo Ekitike, Joao Pedro, Liam Delap and Mbeumo, all of whom joined other clubs after initial interest from Newcastle to varying degrees.
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All of this has implications for Isak's potential move to Liverpool. No decision has been made yet on whether or not Isak will be involved in Newcastle's friendly against Espanyol tomorrow, but that seems doubtful after he trained on his own yesterday.
"You have to earn the right to train with us," Howe told the Daily Mail earlier in the week after Isak had failed to attend the club's tour in Asia.
"We are Newcastle United. The player has a responsibility here to be part of a team and part of a squad — you have to act in the right way. So that is also at play here.
"We will make sure that any player does that to earn the right to train with the group. No player can expect to act poorly and train with the group as normal."
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