Newcastle looking at signing “monster” Isak upgrade

The Premier League‘s Profit and Sustainability (PSR) rules have been restrictive, as evidenced by Newcastle United‘s reluctant sales of academy graduate Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh, who is one of Europe’s most exciting young wingers.

Such sales, bitter pills that they were, ensured that Tyneside superstars such as Alexander Isak, Bruno Guimaraes and Anthony Gordon were not sacrificed to prevent a points deduction or some other form of detrimental sanction.

The latter has since penned a lucrative new contract, while Guimaraes’ blood almost runs black and white, such is the depth of his love for Eddie Howe‘s Magpies.

Uncertainty, however, hangs like mist around Isak, and his St. James’ Park future. Looking through the gauze of that murkiness, opportunities spread out. However, the thought of losing the Sweden international is a bitter pill of a different nature altogether.

Alexander Isak could be on the move

Newcastle’s star centre-forward sits at a pretty high-ranked table, having been hailed as “one of the best in the world” by his club-and-country teammate Emil Krafth.

A slow start to the 2024/25 campaign was hardly going to stick, and the 25-year-old has indeed put any simmering concerns to bed with some stunning recent form, scoring in four successive matches.

His goals proved instrumental in victories over Arsenal and Chelsea and again against high-flying Nottingham Forest before the international break, giving the Magpies a foothold, albeit a low-floored one, in the scramble for purchase in the Premier League.

Isak has rubbished claims that he’s unsettled this week, having linked up with Sweden for international action, but the fact remains that United’s hopes of a contractual renewal are “a complex situation“, as Howe said himself last month.

Arsenal want him as their new number nine, and should that unthinkable scenario be born, at least the Toon are compiling a list of exciting replacements.

Newcastle lining up Isak replacements

Newcastle’s new-found affluence and focused structure point toward a lasting position of power in English football and beyond. Whatever happens on the pitch this season, and the transfer market over the next few years, expect the Magpies to soar back into European competition at some stage.

As per GIVEMESPORT, Newcastle have whittled their list down to three. Pragmatically, Dominic Calvert-Lewin is a possibility, with the Everton striker out of contract next summer. Sporting Lisbon’s Viktor Gyokeres is also being eyed, but he’ll be courted by every high-profile suitor and their mother.

That leaves the most ambitious of the lot. It might seem far-fetched, but Newcastle are looking at swooping for Victor Osimhen and bringing him to Tyneside. Just imagine the shockwaves that would ripple across the continent.

Victor Osimhen would be the best CF since Shearer

Osimhen’s Napoli career is dead in the water, and reports of late have suggested that Newcastle are set to be among the clubs offered the chance to sign Osimhen in 2025, with the striker currently out on loan with Galatasaray in Turkey.

Osimhen had been courted by Chelsea this summer but negotiations crumbled at the eleventh hour in August. The Nigeria international is one of the finest strikers in the world and would likely take the Premier League by storm.

Of course, he wouldn’t come cheap. Osimhen carries a staggering £113m release clause but Napoli would likely be willing to do business for a lesser figure next year, given the need to free him from the ranks permanently.

Luckily, Isak would fetch a pretty penny himself.

Osimhen has notably bettered Isak’s five-goal tally by scoring eight goals and providing four assists across nine matches for Gala this season, bagging a brace against Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League last week too.

Last term, in Naples, the 25-year-old was beset by injuries but still managed to post 21 goal contributions across 27 starts, and the year before, he wreaked utter havoc in Serie A as Napoli sensationally won the Scudetto.

Described as a “monster” by analyst Raj Chohan, Osimhen’s incredible rate of scoring could indeed see him bring an even deadlier strike threat than that of Isak, who has never breached the 30-goal barrier in his career so far. Indeed, it might even see him become Newcastle’s finest forward since Alan Shearer.

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He’d be quite an icon to match, for Shearer, a boyhood Magpie and the Premier League’s all-time record scorer, featured predominantly for Newcastle across his career, scoring 206 goals and 58 assists across 405 matches and winning United’s Player of the Year four times.

Osimhen has already had the man’s blessing, with Shearer urging his former outfit to snatch him in one fell swoop last year. Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has also said that the ace is “one of the best strikers in Europe“, so there’s every ounce of reasoning there for Newcastle to latch onto and use to forge a statement bid.

Galatasaray was a stop-gap option for Osimhem, but Newcastle could open up a new world of opportunity in the biggest league in the world, where he could prove himself against the likes of Erling Haaland and, perhaps, Isak, elsewhere in the division.

In an ideal world, the Magpies faithful would just retain Isak’s services for many years to come. But if the dreaded eventuality rises, this would be an amazing coup for a player who might actually surpass his Swedish counterpart, becoming the finest striker on Tyneside since the days of Shearer.

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