With recent contract talks supposedly reaching a standstill, one Newcastle United star is now reportedly one of the main names on Barcelona’s radar, who are on red alert over his situation ahead of 2025.
Newcastle transfer news
The Magpies can ill-afford further failure on the transfer front following the disastrous summer window that they just endured. To lose any star men in 2025 would represent yet another blow after they failed to secure the signature of targets such as Marc Guehi just a few months ago. Already struggling to manage their squad depth as a result, Newcastle have been linked with a number of solutions.
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ByTom CunninghamOct 17, 2024
Among those includes former Chelsea centre-back Fikayo Tomori, who could yet swap life at AC Milan for a return to the Premier League, where he has unfinished business. After missing out on Guehi, landing Tomori would more than make up for lost time and reinforce Eddie Howe’s backline once and for.
Meanwhile, on the attacking front, the likes of Antoine Semenyo have reportedly entered Newcastle’s radar in a move that would quickly have greater importance if Alexander Isak departs. Recent headlines have indicated that the Swede’s contract talks have come to a sudden standstill at St James’ Park, leaving the door ajar for the £120,000-a-week star to depart with his agents demanding a likely £100m+ release clause in any new deal.
Now, according to The Sun, Isak is one of the main names on Barcelona’s radar with the La Liga giants on red alert in pursuit of an attacking reinforcement to replace Robert Lewandowski at the Nou Camp. As per the report, if they fail to land number one target Erling Haaland, then they’ll turn their attention towards Isak and Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez.
Losing Isak would arguably be the biggest blow that Newcastle can be dealt, especially with Callum Wilson set to leave as a free agent at the end of the campaign. The Magpies could yet be left bidding farewell to both of their main forwards in what would be the ultimate disaster.
"Excellent" Isak is Barcelona quality
As things stand, it seems as though Newcastle must simply hope that it’s Haaland who fails to resist the temptation of Barcelona before Isak has the chance to accept or decline the offer of those from the Nou Camp.
Of course, it shouldn’t come as any real shock that the Swede has entered the La Liga giants’ radar. After all, he certainly has the quality to become one of the stars of the show under Hansi Flick, having lit up the Premier League with 21 goals just last season. But Newcastle will be desperately hoping that their star man decides to first put pen to paper on a new deal and then stay put at St James’ Park.
Howe too, will hope that’s the case, having been full of praise for his forward since his Newcastle debut, telling BBC Sport back in September of 2022: “The players have taken to him. He’s quite quiet and he’s going about his business in a professional way – he’s very focused. He’s asking questions about how we want to play and what’s required of him – he’s been excellent.”
