With Newcastle seemingly set to buy Alexander Isak from Real Sociedad for a club-record fee, things are starting to get interesting in the back end of the transfer window.
After the Isak news broke on Sky Sports, it was closely followed by reports that the representatives of Lucas Paqueta were in London to hash out terms with West Ham causing thousands of Geordie hearts to break.
Newcastle fans have been hoping that Paqueta would be a signing the Toon would make since the window opened based on his friendship with fan-favourite, Bruno Guimaraes. However, despite all the links, Newcastle have never looked like they were about to make any bid for the Lyon midfielder. All stories surrounding a move looked to be based on pure fan-made speculation and wishful thinking.
Who Do We Go For?
Lucas Paqueta
Moussa Diaby
James Maddison
That being said, the Isak deal has come out of nowhere. Interest was shown early in the window but things went very quiet on the move until news broke this morning that a fee had been agreed, so it makes you wonder, what else have we been working on in the shadows?
People on Twitter are speculating that Moussa Diaby will be looking to leave Leverkusen after their abysmal start to the season. Although nothing concrete has been reported, it isn’t beyond the realms of possibility. The German side is rooted to the bottom of the Bundesliga having lost all three league games and have already been dumped out of the cup. Newcastle target, Callum Hudson-Odoi is said to be close to a switch to Bayer Leverkusen which could open the door for a Diaby exit. Whether Newcastle will revisit this deal given the imminent outlay on Isak is another matter, but things are definitely heating up.
There’s still also the Joao Pedro deal which may still go ahead even with the signing of Isak as it has always seemed like Newcastle have had one eye on now and one on the future.
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