£80m striker now keen on signing for Newcastle

Newcastle United are in desperate need of some reinforcements in attack.

The obvious dark cloud hanging over proceedings at the moment at St James’ Park is the ongoing Alexander Isak situation, with Eddie Howe and Co now resiliently firing back to insist that their superstar Swede is not for sale.

This will no doubt cause unrest in the camp, with Isak adamant that he wants to leave. Regardless of whether he does miraculously stay or is expectedly moved on, the Toon need some signings in the forward department, with Callum Wilson also leaving a notable hole when he exited for West Ham United recently.

The Magpies have been incessantly linked with a whole host of names in their bid to try and add some firepower, with one face now standing out as a key target.

Newcastle make £80m star key target

Unfortunately for Newcastle, they have already stumbled when trying to snap up some strikers of Isak’s calibre.

Benjamin Sesko ended up deciding that Manchester United was going to be his next onward destination after RB Leipzig, with the Toon once in the race for the lethal Slovenian’s signature, before the Red Devils won his coveted signature.

That hasn’t stopped Newcastle sniffing around for other targets, however, with Spanish hotshot Samu Aghehowa also on the radar from FC Porto. But, one target above them all is now seemingly the main striker catching the Toon’s attention.

Amazingly, despite blowing hot and cold at Chelsea regularly, Nicolas Jackson is reportedly that man, with a new report by Football Insider revealing that the Premier League side are setting their main sights on the Blues’ number 15 after that damaging Sesko rejection.

£80m is the reported price tag for the 24-year-old, with Jackson also keen on the idea of a Tyneside move – according to the report – amid tensions with Enzo Maresca at Stamford Bridge.

While Jackson hasn’t been sublime throughout his Blues stay to date, he could turn around his Premier League adventure with the Toon, much like Demba Ba did back in 2011 after suffering an unwanted relegation with West Ham United.

How Jackson can be Howe’s very own Ba at Newcastle

Ba would only line up for the Hammers a total of 13 times before spreading his wings in the English game with Newcastle, the team he’s most commonly associated with in the Premier League.

That isn’t to say the Senegalese centre-forward was a colossal failure in East London, though, with a seven goals coming his way donning claret and blue.

But, he would take his game to the next level at St James’ Park, with 29 goals tallied up from 58 appearances on Tyneside, immortalising himself as a great among the Toon faithful subsequently.

Staggeringly, despite grumbles about Jackson’s form in West London – which has even led to talkSPORT’s Alan Brazil stating that he “tries but can’t finish” – Jackson has actually bettered Ba’s Magpies record over his last two seasons for Chelsea, with his entire tally for the Blues coming in at a reasonable 31 strikes from 85 clashes.

With Howe’s impressive track record with strikers at Newcastle also catching the eye, as seen in Isak becoming the talk of the town under his tenure, the hope will be that Jackson – as Ba was before he joined – is a diamond in the rough the ex-AFC Bournemouth manager can improve, having also been heralded as “special” by journalist Rahman Osman when swatting away critics.

Ba’s debut season heroics even saw Newcastle finish in a sensational fifth spot during the 2011/12 campaign, leading to then-Magpies boss Alan Pardew lauding him as possessing a “natural eye for goal.”

Jackson might well have had some less glowing words come his way during his up-and-down Blues stint to date, but he will be hopeful he can propel the Toon to heights that are even loftier than fifth by being the spark that guides Howe and Co. back into the top four and beyond this coming season.