Newcastle open talks to sign “the new Haaland”

It’s not been a summer to remember for Newcastle United so far.

On the pitch, they’ve now suffered back-to-back defeats in pre-season friendlies, first demolished 4-0 by Celtic in Glasgow, before a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Arsenal at the Singapore National Stadium; Anthony Elanga and Jacob Murphy on target but in vein in Kallang.

One player who has notably not made the trip to Southeast Asia is Alexander Isak, with widespread reports claiming that the Sweden international is pushing to leave the club this summer.

Given that ongoing situation, Eddie Howe and his recruitment team have very much entered the transfer market for a new centre-forward, so have they identified their number one target?

Newcastle’s search for a new striker

As outlined by Seb Stafford-Bloor and David Ornstein of the Athletic, Newcastle were very much in the running to sign Hugo Ekitiké from Eintracht Frankfurt, but he joined Liverpool for around £79m instead.

It was then reported that the Magpies would make a move to sign Yoane Wissa from Brentford, only for Dharmesh Sheth and Keith Downie of Sky Sports News to claim that the deal is now off, stating that Newcastle ‘are set to move on to other targets’.

Following Callum Wilson’s release, William Osula, the only available senior centre-forward at the club, led the line in Singapore on Sunday, but could the Toon Army go big to change that fact?

Well, according to a report by Craig Hope of the Daily Hope, Newcastle have enquired about the possibility of signing Benjamin Šeško from RB Leipzig.

Earlier in the window, the Slovenian striker’s most likely destination appeared to be Arsenal, with James McNicholas and Mario Cortegana of the Athletic claiming he was the Gunners’ ‘preferred target’ until the arrival of Andrea Berta, who was instrumental in them securing Viktor Gyökeres instead.

Now, as reported by Yvonne Gabriel of BILD, due to limited interest, Leipzig have lowered their asking price from €100m (£87m) to around €70m (£61m), so should Newcastle snap up Šeško at this reduced price?

How Benjamin Šeško would improve Newcastle

It’s unquestionable that Šeško is a massive talent, with presenter Adam Keys praising his ‘superb ball-striking’ ability, labelling him ‘powerful’ and physical.

Meantime, Ben Mattinson of Breaking the Lines is impressed by his ‘elite’ movement and mobility, noting that he is a strong finisher with both feet, with scout Jacek Kulig even describing him “the new Haaland” such are his wonderful array of attributes.

In two seasons at Leipzig, Šeško has scored 39 goals in 87 appearances, thereby on target every 136 minutes, which is certainly impressive for a 22-year-old.

So, let’s see how he compares to Newcastle’s previous leading striker target Wissa?

As the table documents, Šeško and Wissa’s statistics last season are very similar, with the Leipzig forward scoring one more goal across all competitions, while also creating more big chances and completing a higher percentage of his take-ons.

Wissa does have the edge in many categories, underlining that he would more than likely score goals for Newcastle, but the reported £35m fee that was being banded around does appear high for a player who is into the final 12 months of his contract, and will celebrate his 29th birthday come early-September.

Šeško, on the other hand, has only just turned 22 years old and has the potential to get even better, so surely seems to be the more shrewd investment, both in the short but also longer term.

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