Newcastle lead race to sign £60m striker

Newcastle United remain one of the most dangerous and dynamic teams in English football. A frustrating summer transfer window won’t change that.

Let’s not forget that last year Eddie Howe’s Magpies won the Carabao Cup (beating Liverpool in the final at Wembley) and secured a seat in this season’s Champions League proper, their second in three years.

And let’s not forget that that success came off the back of a frustrating summer transfer window, with four bids not enough to convince Crystal Palace to sell Marc Guehi and efforts also fruitless in a bid to sign Nottingham Forest’s Anthony Elanga.

But persistence is so often a virtue in the football industry, and Elanga now plays in black and white, while interest in Palace’s Guehi remains, albeit with Liverpool holding the lead in the race for the England defender.

The Reds. Monday night can’t come soon enough. It’s bound to be a cauldron of chaos at St. James’ Park as United welcome the Premier League champions, who are hoping to sign Howe’s wantaway talisman, Alexander Isak.

Should they succeed, Newcastle will need one or two replacements.

The latest on Alexander Isak

Isak’s future remains undetermined, but it’s difficult to envisage a way back for the Sweden international, who has removed himself from Howe’s first-team plans as he focuses on pushing through a move to Merseyside before the transfer deadline.

Liverpool have already seen a formal offer worth an initial £110m knocked back, and they are ready to go again when, or if, given the green light by the Magpies.

Efforts continue for a successor. Brentford’s Yoane Wissa is on strike as he looks to force through a move to Tyneside, while interest in Paris Saint-Germain forward Goncalo Ramos has surfaced of late.

But there’s another player dwelling in the Premier League who might prove to be the pick of the bunch, with more potential than the pair of them as an elite star in English football.

Newcastle lead race for Isak heir

According to reports in Italy, as translated by Sport Witness, AC Milan have made contact with Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson, although Newcastle hold the lead in the race for the Senegalese striker.

Jackson, 24, has been marked as surplus to requirements following the latest overhaul at Stamford Bridge, and he’s been valued at £60m by the Blues, with Aston Villa’s movements also suggesting interest this month.

It is stressed that any potential deal for Jackson hinges on Isak moving to Liverpool or remaining on Tyneside for the upcoming year.

Why Nicolas Jackson could succeed at Newcastle

Two years ago, Jackson joined Chelsea from Villarreal in La Liga for a £32m fee. Across his two years in the Premier League, it’s fair to say he’s ebbed and flowed, showing flashes of high-class ability that’s seen him described as “special” by journalist Rahman Osman, before being pulled back by wayward finishing and questionable decision-making.

But perhaps we’re selling him short. Jackson might have some work to do in regard to his finishing, but he’s a mobile and hard-working striker who thrives in transition, which just so happens to be one of Howe’s biggest tactical strengths.

Based on data from FBref, Jackson ranks among the top 18% of strikers across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for assists, the top 15% for pass completion and the top 18% for progressive carries per 90, with such statistics even seeing Isak listed as one of his most comparable players.

Of course, Jackson is not Isak, but he’s got the making of an elite striker, one who could stretch beyond that of the aforementioned Wissa and Ramos.

Signing Ramos, who stars for perhaps the best team in the world right now, is an attractive thought, but would he be the right signing?

The Portugal striker, 24, only started 12 times in Ligue 1 last season, and he scored ten times. Pretty good stuff, but Sofascore record that he also missed 18 big chances, also missing five big chances in the Champions League, scoring three goals there.

Playing on the faster-paced, higher-octane Premier League landscape, might Ramos fall by the wayside? Certainly, his ball-striking leaves something to be desired, though there’s no denying that his movement and energy would add something to Newcastle, having posted 34 goals and eight assists across 88 matches for PSG, also bagging nine times for Portugal across 16 caps.

With Wissa, it’s a little different. The 28-year-old Brentford frontman has been a target for Newcastle all summer and is intent on leaving the Gtech and joining Howe’s cause in the coming weeks.

This move is irrespective of the Isak quandary, and the DR Congo star would be expected to bring an instant clinical touch to the Tyneside squad after scoring 19 goals across the 2024/25 Premier League season.

But he’s very much at the heart of his prime years, and he doesn’t have significant development still to undertake on a personal level.

Jackson, however, has spent two years fostering his talents at Chelsea, and might not rise a level or two if entrusted with a starring role at Newcastle, where he would find all he needs to marry his skill set with Howe’s teachings and reach a level not too far away from that which Toon fans have been treated to over the past three years.