It’s been a tough transfer window for Newcastle United so far, which must shown signs of improvement soon with the new season less than four wees away.
Along with the surprise loss of Paul Mitchell, who announced his plan to leave as Sporting Director at the end of May, and non-stop rumours linking the ‘not for sale’ Alexander Isak with a move, we’ve seen Newcastle try and fail to land several attacking targets.
The club quickly moved to Anthony Elanga after an enormous package was needed for Man Utd-bound Bryan Mbeumo, but our bid to sign another forward has featured even more setbacks.
Liam Delap picked Chelsea despite an offer from Newcastle, our bid to sign Joao Pedro was hijacked by Chelsea and an ambitious move for Hugo Ekitike’s was spoilt by Liverpool when the Reds realised Alexander Isak was going to cost far more than they were prepared to pay this summer.
Where Newcastle go next remains to be seen, but NUFCBlog can exclusively reveal that OGC Nice forward Evann Guessand has been watched by Newcastle scouts over the past season.
As we reported last Friday in a piece on Yann Bisseck, Guessand is an option that could be explored should our pursuit of a versatile forward move to the European market, with the Ivory Coast international a similar profile to the versatile Joao Pedro, being able to play anywhere across the front line or as a second striker.
Guessand turned 24 earlier this month and has just enjoyed his best season yet in France, bagging 13 goals and 10 assists with Ligue 1 side Nice, with this form attracting visits from scouts at Spurs, Brighton, Wolves and West Ham.
This isn’t the first time Newcastle scouts have checked out one of Nice’s top talents, with former stars Kephren Thuram and Jean-Clair Todibo watched in previous seasons after Allan Saint-Maximin’s arrival.
Guessand would represent a risk and we can not say if the 6ft 2′ forward is currently near the top of a striker shortlist that has seen plan A, B and C fail so far this summer, but he would be considerably cheaper than Pedro (£55m) and Ekitike (£80m).
Either way, potential gems available across Europe may be Newcastle’s next port of call if a move for Brentford’s Yoane Wissa proves too expensive.
Wissa has been heavily linked and remains an option, but two things remain unclear. How much will Newcastle pay for a man turning 29 in September, and will Brentford refuse to sell or demand a huge fee now Mbeumo’s £70m-plus move to Man Utd follows exits for manager Thomas Frank and captain Christian Norgaard.
One concern with both, however, is that Wissa and Guessand would be missing for a portion of the 2025/26 season, representing their countries across part of December and January at the African Cup of Nations
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