Manchester United matched Newcastle's £74m bid for RB Leipzig star Benjamin Sesko - and Rasmus Hojlund could head the other way in bad news for Alexander Isak and Liverpool
Alexander Isak was in limbo on Tuesday night - with the wantaway Newcastle striker fearing that Benjamin Sesko could scupper his dream move to Liverpool.
With Manchester United matching the Magpies’ £74m bid for RB Leipzig hitman Sesko, the Slovenian now has to decide which club he will join
But if he chooses United ahead of Newcastle, then Isak could find himself in no-man’s land with the new season just 10 days away. And that scenario is looking increasingly likely with the Bundesliga side keen on taking United misfit Rasmus Hojlund in the deal.
Toon officials have made it clear to the Swede that they will only sell him if Liverpool match their valuation AND they have a replacement lined up.
Liverpool have so far lodged an initial bid of £110m plus add-ons, well short of the Toon’s valuation. And they won’t be back in until Newcastle have brought in a replacement for their prize asset.
For their part, Newcastle want the situation resolved as quickly as possible.
They had hoped that United’s delay in bidding for Sesko would leave them firmly in the driving seat but now both clubs had made similar offers to Leipzig leaving the final decision firmly in Sesko’s court.
The player trained indoors away from his team-mates, with his departure imminent. Various sources in Germany claim he favours a move to Old Trafford despite a lack of European football next season.
Newcastle, however, won’t give up knowing they can’t fail to land yet another of their top transfer targets having already missed out on Bryan Mbeumo, Liam Delap, Joao Pedro, Hugo Ekitike and Dean Huijsen.
And while no-one inside the club will admit it, they would rather have Sesko leading their attack than a disgruntled Isak, who would rather be wearing the red shirt of Liverpool.
The Magpies remain confident of signing forward Yoane Wissa despite their two offers so far falling well short of the price tag Brentford have slapped on him.
And they have stepped up their bid to land AC Milan's 23-year-old centre half Malick Thiaw.