After Brentford turned down their latest offer to sign Yoane Wissa, Newcastle United have now reportedly set their sights on another Premier League rival.
Newcastle walk away from Wissa deal
It has been a miserable summer for the Magpies. From early frustration in pursuit of Joao Pedro and Bryan Mbeumo to Liverpool’s swoop to sign Hugo Ekitike and the unraveling Alexander Isak saga, to say not much has gone to plan would be an understatement.
Now, Brentford have seemingly made things worse. After missing out on Ekitike, Newcastle reportedly turned towards Wissa in hope of finally landing a top target.
The forward left the Bees’ pre-season camp amid the rumours and things looked to be heading in the right direction. As has been the case all throughout this summer, however, things have now reportedly changed.
According to transfer reporter Ben Jacobs, Brentford have now closed the door on selling Wissa for anything less than £50m+ after Newcastle raised their bid to over the £30m-mark. As a result, the Magpies – for now – have walked away.
Wissa, meanwhile, has reportedly refused to train amid disappointment over Brentford’s stance and the pact that they’ve broken which should have allowed him to leave for £26m this summer.
Whether the forward can be persuaded to return to training remains to be seen. Of course, if the situation stays unresolved, then it will be interesting to see if Newcastle return with another attempt to sign the 28-year-old.
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For Eddie Howe, the saga represents yet more frustration after he admitted that it’s been a difficult summer in pursuit of targets.
He told reporters: “I wish I could give you clarity, and some kind of guarantee that this or that is going to happen, but I can’t. My wish was for us to do our business early, and we certainly tried, but it wasn’t to be.”
Frustrated or not, Newcastle have now reportedly returned to the drawing board and shifted their focus towards yet another striker option.
Newcastle now eyeing Watkins move
Following the Wissa bombshell, those at St James’ Park reportedly have another option in mind. According to The Daily Mail’s Craig Hope, PIF and Newcastle are now eyeing a summer swoop to sign Ollie Watkins from Aston Villa.
As the stats highlight, Newcastle’s backline are already well aware of Watkins’ quality and have been on the end of it five times in nine games over the years. As alternative options for Wissa go or even replacements for Isak, the England man certainly wouldn’t be a bad option.
Full of praise for his star striker last season, Aston Villa manager Unai Emery told reporters: “He’s amazing. Because he’s a really hard worker and his commitment to work every day is amazing.
“When he is scoring goals, it’s the main objective he can have. Where he is assisting as well, he’s contributing to help the team. But even when he’s not doing both, he’s working for the team. Defensively, the commitment was always high. He is in the press to the opponent.”
