European giants want £83m Newcastle ace & it could be another Cole disaster

Since taking over as manager at Newcastle United, Eddie Howe has had the luxury of spending hundreds of millions of pounds. Of course, that is because of their takeover in 2021, when Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund bought the majority stake in the club.

It is fair to say that the new owners at St James’ Park have not been afraid to splash the cash when they need to. Last summer, they were held back by the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules so did not spend much. However, in recent years, the likes of Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes and Anthony Gordon have all joined for a sizeable fee.

The Magpies’ record signing is Alexander Isak, but he has been linked with a move away from the club recently.

Alexander Isak’s potential move away

Swedish striker Isak has been sensational since his club record £63m move to St James’ Park, from Spanish outfit Real Sociedad. The striker has 46 goals and nine assists in 85 games for the club in all competitions.

He has been a consistent goalscorer in the Premier League, despite struggling with injuries throughout his Magpies career. He has already hit double figures for the 2024/25 season, having only played 15 games.

Despite having scored two goals in a game eight times, the 25-year-old had never managed to score a Magpies hat trick. However, that all changed last weekend after he smashed three goals past Ipswich Town in a 4-0 win, a phenomenal performance.

However, things are perhaps not as good as they might seem. According to Spanish reports, the deadly centre-forward is a target for French giants Paris Saint-Germain. He has been ‘singled out’ by PSG boss Luis Enrique as a potential signing. It could cost around £83m to sign him.

Should Isak leave, the Magpies are in danger of repeating a sale from the 1990s that proved to be a costly error.

The transfer repeat Newcastle will hope to avoid

There are few players as underrated in Premier League football than Andy Cole. He scored 187 Premier League goals, the fourth most in the competition’s history. Incredibly, only one of those strikes was a penalty.

For the Magpies, Cole was devastating. He played just three seasons at the club, but managed to score 68 goals and grab 23 assists in 84 appearances. In the 1993/94 season, he bagged 34 goals in 40 Premier League appearances.

It was off the back of this unstoppable form that Manchester United paid a British record fee of £8.6m. According to The Transfer Index, that would be a jaw-dropping £123m in today’s money, an extraordinary fee with inflation.

It is fair to say that Cole’s move to Old Trafford paid off for him. He went on to play 275 games for the club, scoring 121 goals and grabbing 44 assists in that time. He also won five Premier League titles and was a crucial part of the treble-winning side in 1998/99.

Despite the money they received, the Magpies surely regretted selling their striker. Although they signed Alan Shearer as his replacement, those two could have formed a clinical partnership.

Cole could have also been a big difference-maker in their hunt for the Premier League title. Newcastle finished second twice, in 1995/96 and 1996/97, but had they kept the striker he could have been the man to give them the edge and win the league.

This is simply not a mistake that Newcastle can make with Isak. The money is lucrative, and perhaps hard to turn down. However, they are building a project, with ambitions to win the Premier League, as Amanda Staveley explained after the takeover in 2021.

The Swedish striker could be the key force behind that. Finding someone as clinical in front of goal as Isak is a rarity for Newcastle. They are once-in-a-generation strikers, the likes of Cole and Shearer.

This is not to say the Swede will hit these heights, but his numbers at this stage are undeniable, and he could be the man to take them to the top. Selling Isak could be a huge mistake for the Magpies, and they might well lose their best hope of finally lifting a Premier League title, just like they did when Cole left all those years ago.