Newcastle are having an insanely bad time

Champions League qualification has not been a magic bullet for Newcastle’s recruitment this summer. They’ve lost out on goalkeeper James Trafford, who has decided on a return to Manchester City, and their backup plan isn’t terribly encouraging. Aaron Ramsdale feels very “we have James Trafford at home.”

And then there’s the striker situation. Eddie Howe insists that no offers have been made for Alexander Isak, but it’s the story that simply will not go away. It feels a lot like Gareth Bale’s move to Real Madrid, where Spurs were insisting he was happy at the club while he was skipping training, until they finally extracted maximum value at the last minute.

Newcastle would like to sign another striker even if Isak doesn’t depart, and they’re currently striking out on their targets. Following Hugo Ekitike’s move to Liverpool, the Magpies have had trouble getting anywhere with Yoane Wissa. Brentford don’t want to sell at any price unless they have a replacement signed up, given how many good players they’ve lost this summer already.

We’ve previously mentioned on this newsletter that we are Benjamin Šeško-skeptical due to his low shot volume and lack of high xG chances, but he’s an incredible physical talent with a high ceiling, even if he’s not been great at anything but headers recently. I can see the case for signing him, but they’re battling Manchester United, which at least one report claims to be his preferred destination.

So who’s the backup plan to the backup plan to the backup plan? Maybe Gabriel Jesus, and Newcastle fans will be hoping this is a case of pure agent yapping rather than genuine interest. Jesus is a willing presser, which is probably why Eddie Howe would sanction the move, but his box touches to shots ratio is pretty appalling. Shoot, my man.

There’s a lot of window left, and Newcastle could make this post look very silly in a couple of weeks. But this is a continuation of the failures of last summer, when the Magpies whiffed on their targets and got fortunate to get through last season without major injury problems. If they fail to improve the squad again this summer, it’s hard to see them qualifying for Champions League again.

More transfer rumours:

• Speaking of Manchester United striker rumours, Randal Kolo Muani remains on their list. Gazzetta seems to believe that if Kolo Muani ends up at United instead of staying at Juventus, that could lead to the Bianconeri taking United striker Rasmus Hojlund on loan.

• In other United news, they’re getting more serious about negotiating for Morten Hjulmand. Here’s our piece from last week about why they should not do that, and some alternative signings they could make instead.

• Jorrel Hato to Chelsea appears to be just about done for £35m. We’ve done plenty of mocking Chelsea around these parts for both signing bad players and the sheer number of players they’ve signed. But this is a sensible move that fills a need, and it’s a reasonable price for a good young player.

• Leeds have made an offer for Feyenoord winger Igor Paixao, but he appears set to reject them to join Marseille instead. If Paixao makes the rumoured €30m + add-ons move, he’ll be Marseille’s record transfer.

• Atlético Madrid are negotiating to sign Enzo Millot from Stuttgart, and he’s a player I like a lot. He’s more of a shooter than a dribbler or passer from an attacking midfielder role, and might be expected to replace some of Antoine Griezmann’s production if he ever makes a long-rumoured move to MLS.

• Nottingham Forest has their Anthony Elanga replacement: Dan Ndoye, who joins from Bologna for about £35m + add-ons. He is an extreme dribbly boy.

• Bild claims that Bayern Munich are the only club that have registered concrete interest in signing Xavi Simons, while Ben Jacobs claims otherwise, reporting that Chelsea are very much in negotiations. In any event, I don’t think he’ll be playing for Leipzig this year.

• Bayern are also close to signing Luis Diaz, who is in Bavaria for his medical. Good for Liverpool getting a £65m fee for a 28-year-old who was going to be a backup for them this season.

• PSG have come back in for Ilya Zabarnyi, who would really like to make that move. Me too buddy.

And one last thing: We have a huge Premier League season preview coming out the week of Monday, August 4. It has detailed previews of all 20 teams, with contributions from Ted and I, plus a slew of other brilliant people. We wanted to be able to pay them fairly, so it’s £10, and you can get it here. Click the far right option and make sure the button at the bottom says £10. This sub will get you access to the whole thing: All 30,000+ words, with stats and data viz you won’t get anywhere else.

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