Benjamin Sesko is gaining admirers at Newcastle United, but a potential deal is still in its infancy.
That is the impression of The Athletic’s Magpies correspondent Chris Waugh, who was speaking on Pod on the Tyne amid reports from transfer guru Fabrizio Romano citing the Toon with an interest in the Red Bull Salzburg striker.
Eddie Howe is still on the lookout for a new forward after walking away from a deal for Hugo Ekitike, despite agreeing a £33m fee.
Their search has seemingly landed them on Sesko, and after pictures emerged of his agent roaming around the north-east, the rumour mill unsurprisingly went into overdrive.
However, while admitting he was unsure as to why Elvis Basanovic was in Newcastle, Waugh did point out that his 19-year-old client is certainly someone Dan Ashworth and co are looking at.
He said: “Why he was on Tyneside, I can’t answer conclusively; I’ve tried to reach out to them and they haven’t got back to me. But I can say that Sesko is someone Newcastle like, one of many players who they like, and a lot of other people like Sesko as well.
“He’s seen as one of the next big things potentially in Europe, and the likes of Bayern Munich and others are sort of tracking him going forward. He’s a potential option for Newcastle, he’s someone they’re considering as an alternative to Hugo Ekitike, but I don’t think it has progressed beyond that just yet.”
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Dubbed the ‘new Erling Haaland’ by football talent scout Jacek Kulig, the Slovenian could well fit the bill of a young forward that Howe is after.
The Slovenian sharp-shooter made 37 appearances for RB Salzburg last season, scoring 11 times and producing a further seven assists – despite making just 14 starts throughout the campaign – and was directly involved in a goal every 87 minutes.
With the new campaign in Austria already underway, he has hit the ground running again this season with two goals and an assist in two games.
However, with a £55m price tag mooted, it does remain to be seen whether PIF would be willing to go for broke and stump up that sort of figure in the remainder of the window.