Newcastle are concerned that Benjamin Sesko may be waiting for a move to Manchester United after their record-breaking £70 million bid was turned down, talkSPORT understands.
The Magpies submitted an offer of €75million (£65m) plus €5m (£4.3m) in add-ons.
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But Leipzig have turned down the bid as they hold out for at least an initial £70m fee – and a future sell-on clause.
It’s the same price that Leipzig quoted Arsenal earlier in the window.
Arsenal ultimately turned their attention to signing Viktor Gyokeres instead after sporting director Andrea Berta was unable to drive the price down.
Manchester United are also in talks over a move for Sesko after sending a delegation to Germany earlier this week.
A decision over his future appears imminent, after he was left out of Leipzig’s squad for their friendly defeat against Atalanta on Saturday.
RB Leipzig believe they can drag Newcastle and United into a bidding war for their star striker.
According to earlier reports by talkSPORT on Saturday, United considered offering Rasmus Hojlund as an incentive to capture Sesko, though the Danish player is uninterested in the transfer.
Sesko has already told his Leipzig teammates he expects to leave this summer.
News of Newcastle’s bid for the Slovenian comes less than 24 hours after the club rejected Liverpool’s £110m offer for Alexander Isak.
This response has led United to have no immediate plans for a subsequent offer during this transfer period—unless Newcastle’s stance shifts.
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talkSPORT understands that the Magpies intend to retain their key forward or at least find a substitute before agreeing to any sale, with an estimated £150m as the target price.
Isak, who has been training with former club Real Sociedad, has told Newcastle he wants to leave this summer.
The Swedish player is also Newcastle’s record signing, having joined from Real Sociedad for £63 million in August 2022.
If Newcastle were to sign Sesko, it would be a major acquisition for the Magpies and provide a much-needed boost in the transfer market, considering their lack of success with several targets this summer.
Who have Newcastle missed out on this summer?
The likes of Bryan Mbeumo, Joao Pedro, Hugo Ekitike, Dean Huijsen, James Trafford and Liam Delap were all wanted by Newcastle.
However, Newcastle boss Eddie Howe was left to watch the sextuple move elsewhere.
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Mbeumo went to Manchester United, Delap and Pedro joined Chelsea, Ekitike got snapped up by Liverpool, Trafford returned to Manchester City and Huijsen secured a move to Spanish giants Real Madrid.
Howe did manage to secure one of his targets thus far in the form of electric winger Anthony Elanga, who arrived from Nottingham Forest in a £55m deal.
But the 47-year-old is under no illusion that the sole addition of the Sweden international will be enough for the upcoming campaign as the club returns to the bright lights of the Champions League.
“We’re not deluded,” Howe said following Newcastle’s 3-2 loss to Arsenal in Singapore as part of their pre-season preparations.
“We know we need to bring players in. We’ve known that. We know what we wanted. It’s been a challenging window.”
Another player in Newcastle’s crosshairs is Brentford ace Yoane Wissa.
Newcastle have had a £25m bid rejected by the Bees for the winger, who indicated they would not part with their 19-goal star for anything less than £50m.
But Wissa, who has one year remaining on his contract, is determined to force an exit and has even refused to train.
At 28, Wissa is understood to hold a desire to play Champions League football for a big club and believes it may be the last chance in his career to do so.
This was communicated to Brentford in face-to-face talks over his future in London after Wissa left Brentford’s pre-season tour in Lisbon.
