Newcastle now in pole position to sign £76m striker who has already turned down Chelsea

Newcastle United have endured their fair share of frustration in the transfer window thus far.

Eddie Howe was eyeing deals for several attacking players who have ended up signing for Newcastle’s Premier League rivals instead.

The latest is Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike, who will now be joining Liverpool in a big money move.

Newcastle also wanted to sign Joao Pedro prior to his move to Chelsea, and the list goes on.

Fortunately, Howe has welcomed former Nottingham Forest star Anthony Elanga to St James’ Park.

And after a run of disappointment on the transfer front, Newcastle might finally be in pole position to win the race for a top striker.

Newcastle are the most likely club to sign Randal Kolo Muani from PSG

According to journalist Duncan Castles who was appearing on ‘The Transfers Podcast’, Newcastle are now at the front of the queue to sign Randal Kolo Muani from Paris Saint-Germain.

Kolo Muani spent last season on loan at Juventus, but the 26-year-old striker has now returned to Paris.

And according to Castles, Newcastle have leapt ahead of Manchester United in the race to sign the France international, who cost PSG £76m back in 2023.

READ MORE: Rio Ferdinand gives his honest verdict on Newcastle signing Anthony Elanga from Nottingham Forest

Castles explained: “Unsurprisingly there’s interest from England because there’s been interest from England in Kolo Muani for years.

“He went to PSG ahead of interest from clubs including Manchester United, what I’m hearing from the French end is that there’s been enquiries from Manchester United about his availability, but I don’t think they are as advanced as they are with other clubs.

“Newcastle United are involved in this conversation and I think at present it looks like they are the most likely destination for Kolo Muani.

“And again, this makes you wonder, what is happening with Isak? Because of his similarities to Isak, I’m not saying that the two couldn’t be paired together, but pairing Ekitike with Isak was a simple process, an easy thing to do, and you would be bringing a player into the club who could be Isak’s successor.

“With Kolo Muani I think it would take a change in Eddie Howe’s tactical set-up to play the two together.”

Randal Kolo Muani wouldn’t come to St James’ Park as Alexander Isak’s backup

As mentioned, if Kolo Muani was to sign for Newcastle, it might be an ominous sign as much as an exciting one.

The Frenchman’s goal record for both Eintracht Frankfurt and Juventus has been seriously impressive, even if he didn’t get the starts he may have hoped for at PSG.

Club	Games	Goals	Goal ratio
Eintracht Frankfurt	50	26	0.52
Paris Saint-Germain	54	11	0.20
Juventus	22	10	0.45

But if Newcastle were to tempt Kolo Muani to St James’ Park, it would surely have to be with a promise of regular starts — he should be a key player for most Premier League sides.

TBR Football recently shared that Kolo Muani turned down a move to Chelsea owing to his preference to sign for Juventus, where he would presumably be the starting striker.

And although Howe has proven that he can be flexible with his tactical approach, he’s rarely ever started with two number nines in the north east.

Therefore, if Newcastle do sign Kolo Muani, it might be because Isak is heading elsewhere.

But as things stand, Isak does appear as if he’ll be a Newcastle player at the end of August.

Tino Livramento and Sandro Tonali react as Sean Longstaff sends message to Newcastle after completing Leeds move

Newcastle United have bid farewell to one of their own as Sean Longstaff completed his move to Leeds United on Friday night.

The Newcastle and Leeds admins were both busy as the former paid tribute to the departing hometown hero, while the latter welcomed an exciting new arrival to Elland Road.

Leeds have reportedly paid £12million for Longstaff, alongside a further £3million in achievable add-ons, including Premier League survival.

Longstaff himself took to Instagram with a short message for Newcastle, which led to many of his peers – including Tino Livramento and Sandro Tonali – to respond.

Sean Longstaff move to Leeds prompts outpouring of emotion from Newcastle camp

Sean Longstaff shared a highlights reel of himself on Instagram, along with the message “thank you for everything, NUFC”.

It didn’t take long for many of Longstaff’s peers to wish him well and say they’ll miss him.

Livramento wrote: “Thanks for everything brother, you’ll be a big big miss”. Meanwhile, Tonali posted a crying emoji along with three red hearts.

Alan Shearer wished Longstaff good luck, while Joe Willock admitted he had a tear in his eye due to the news and Paul Dummett said the midfielder “lived the dream”.

In addition, Jacob Murphy described Longstaff as a “hero” and a “legend”.

Longstaff becomes Leeds’ fifth summer signing after Sebastiaan Bornau, Lukas Nmecha, Jaka Bijol and Gabriel Gudmundsson.

READ MORE: Newcastle in talks over £40m Premier League forward who is ‘ready to go’, but Tottenham are also keen

Callum Wilson’s big Sean Longstaff compliment

In 2023, former Newcastle forward Callum Wilson said he wouldn’t swap Longstaff for anyone.

“We brought in a £60million striker last summer and you use it as competition, as fuel,” he told The Times.

“You know with the way the club’s going that if you don’t perform then potentially it could be your time done at the club. So you have to keep performing, keep pushing and keep improving.

“And that’s what everyone’s doing. Players like Sean Longstaff, who’s come through the academy, and now the manager is getting the best out of him and he looks a top player week in, week out.