The problem is that Newcastle are struggling mightily to secure a replacement striker, which they want to do before they sanction Isak’s sale, with the club having now been rejected by RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko. It’s not the first rejection Newcastle have suffered this summer, and the current consensus is coalescing around Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson as the next target on the list.
It’s all a bit of a mess for The Toon, to put it mildly. From Liverpool’s perspective, though, that they’re moving down their target list and trying again after the Sesko rejection is at least encouraging—if Newcastle felt there was any realistic chance of keeping hold of Isak at this point, one imagines that would be their preferred option.
The other good news is that with one more striker off the table in Sesko, that’s one less club for Newcastle to potentially battle it out with for Jackson if in fact he is the new target, and Chelsea have signalled clearly this summer that they would like to sell the 24-year-old after signing Liam Delap and João Pedro earlier in the summer to bolster their attack.
Pedro was also a top striker target for Newcastle, with the Tyneside club also been beaten to Hugo Ekitike by Liverpool this summer before moving on to Sekso who they have now been beaten to by Manchester United, and Newcastle have faced similar struggles trying to recruit for other positions this summer.