Benjamin Sesko 'makes U-turn on Man Utd' as new transfer decision reached

Benjamin Sesko has decided to go back on a summer transfer to Manchester United and instead will move to Newcastle, according to reports in his native Slovenia. Having been primed as Eddie Howe's preferred option to replace Alexander Isak, the Magpies may yet land their man.

The RB Leipzig man is able to leave for a fee in the region of £60million, though it was claimed that he wanted to join United even though they were unable to offer Champions League football. But Delo now say that he has been convinced to head to St James' Park.

No deal has been reached by any side with Leipzig, but they are aware that Sesko is up for sale as a result of the Bundesliga club failing to secure European football. Xavi Simons is also set to depart for Chelsea.

Both United and Newcastle have been searching for a striker this summer. The latter had upped their interest in Sesko when Liverpool were expected to agree a deal to sign Isak, but the Saudi-backed outfit have always maintained that they wanted a replacement for Callum Wilson also.

Liverpool made a formal bid for Isak on Friday that was rejected, though they are ready to pull out of any deal this summer, even with the Swedish forward training on his own at former club Real Sociedad's facilities.

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Howe remained coy while on pre-season tour in the Far East about any new developments regarding Sesko, but insisted that Newcastle are trying to compete with the traditional 'Big Six' in the Premier League this window.

"I am sorry to sound like a broken record, I am aware of what is happening but I am not dealing with it," Howe said of Sesko. "I woke up today and had two training sessions then came straight here.

"I am finding out what is happening after it has happened, so we will try to bring the best to the football club - I will make that clear - but I can't talk about individual targets.

"We are looking at the best players we can get. We are only looking at the best we can get, I see all situations open and available to us. I feel that is the only way we are going to get where we want to go, which is to maximise quality over quantity.

"That is the way it has always been, the way we work, we try to improve, we have don it pretty well to this point. It has been a challenging summer as you know. We have missed out on loads of different targets for different reasons. But we are still very competitive and we are still in there trying to bring good players to the club, that won't change until the window shuts."

Howe also confirmed that Newcastle turned down a bid for Isak and offered an olive branch to the wantaway striker, claiming that he can be reintegrated to the squad.

"From my situation I am very much removed from what was happening back home," he added. "I was made aware of a bid yesterday and that bid was turned down all before I even heard about. People back in England are dealing with the situation.

"I really don't know what happens next. From our perspective, we still support Alex in every way, and my wish is that we see him in a Newcastle shirt again.

"It is difficult because you don't know what is going to happen. There can be all sorts of talk and hypothetical situations but then you are dealing with reality.

"The reality is we had the first bid from Liverpool yesterday. I believe that was turned down, from this point onwards let's see what happens. I have no idea to try to predict that.

"In terms of trying to upset players, from my perspective, we can only talk about us, we try to do things the right way, signing players is always complex, we just try to do what we think is right. I can't talk about other clubs, that is not for me to say."