Shock £100m-plus-player Isak swap gets green light thanks to Howe and failsafe option

With Newcastle in the midst of a harrowing transfer window few would have predicted as they celebrated Champions League qualification with their fans at St James’ Park on the final day of last season, Stuart Pearce has presented his former side with a means to make them “better off” in a post-Alexander Isak world.

“He might just be the one that the new Newcastle fans take to. He creates chances for himself, for sure. He’s just been a little bit wasteful over time. If he gets that right, all of a sudden he’ll be a very effective replacement for Isak.”

Newcastle have ‘reservations’ over Benjamin Sesko and don’t look likely to sign him anyway as they face the bleak reality of the worst Manchester United in living memory still having greater pulling power than arguably the best Newcastle, with the typical draw of Champions League football in these transfer battles apparently insignificant in the “scared” striker’s mind, as was the case with Bryan Mbeumo earlier in the window.

The irony of Yoane Wissa refusing to train to force a move to Newcastle as Brentford insist he’s not for sale, at least until they can source a suitable replacement, will not be lost on many while Isak trains alone at Real Sociedad, though the Magpies’ Public Investment Fund (PIF) chiefs aren’t likely to be hugely welcoming of ‘you reap what you sow’ witticisms with regard to the mess they find themselves in.

READ MORE: Yoane Wissa deserves our sympathy…but not as much as poor Brentford fans

They’ve also overpaid for Anthony Elanga, have missed out on top goalkeeper target James Trafford and will be powerless as Marc Guehi moves to Liverpool, either this summer or at the end of his contract next year. It really couldn’t be going worse.

We doubt they see Darwin Nunez’s “unshakability” in quite such a positive light as Pearce, as they would be signing a striker who “goes in, misses a chance, misses another one, but keeps going” to replace one who goes in, scores from a chance, scores from another one, and keeps going. But we too think Newcastle should “have a bash” with Nunez.

The cons are obvious. Nunez misses far too many chances to be considered anything close to a like-for-like replacement for Isak, and a swap to ease Liverpool’s path to sign their prized asset would be a strange deal if they really do want to hang onto him.

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That’s a conundrum in itself. Do they really want to retain a striker who wants to leave? It’s the sort of head vs heart decision that would benefit from the club having a sitting sporting director, rather than a set of ‘angry’ owners making the call who neither need the money from Isak’s sale nor have any real idea as to how him staying may impact the dynamic of the dressing room.

Assuming Isak does leave, Newcastle want to sign two new strikers; that makes Nunez plus say £100m for Isak immediately more attractive.

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There’s definitely ‘something in’ the Uruguayan and Newcastle offers as good a chance as any club for that something to be uncovered, nurtured and cherished, thanks mainly to Eddie Howe. There’s arguably no manager in the Premier League with a greater recent track record of improving players and getting the absolute best out of them

Joelinton and Jacob Murphy are perhaps the most notable examples, but all of Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes, Tino Livramento and Isak himself can be counted in the same category of players reaping the rewards of Howe’s management and coaching.

There’s of course a chance Howe won’t be able to ‘fix’ Nunez, which means having him as the only frontline option with William Osula in reserve is a non-starter. But with Sesko, Wissa, Ollie Watkins or an alternative acting as a failsafe, Newcastle can afford to gamble on a striker who we can all recognise has a great deal of unfulfilled potential.

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