Manchester City eye up new striker as Newcastle consider Guehi alternatives

Champions weighing up move for Kyogo Furuhashi

After the departure of Julián Alvarez at a tidy profit earlier this summer, Manchester City are in the market for a new centre forward to play back-up to Erling Haaland.

The Athletic say one option is Celtic’s Kyogo Furuhashi, a 29-year-old Japanese striker who has netted 73 goals for the Scottish side since joining in 2021. City are interested in Furuhashi as a squad player - after selling Alvarez to Atlético Madrid and seeing Oscar Bobb sidelined for months with a leg fracture, Pep Guardiola’s side will need attacking reinforcements around Haaland.

Furuhashi scored 11 Premiership goals for Celtic last season, just behind Matt O’Riley’s 13, and would be a welcome reinforcement at the Etihad. However, the City hierarchy will also need to consider that Furuhashi might not be the best injury backup; he himself has a long-term shoulder problem which has flared up recently. While surgery is an option, manager Brendan Rogers said it would rule him out for around four months - a possibility that could put City off.

In any case, a move for Furuhashi is likely to be on the back burner as they look to re-sign treble-winning captain İlkay Gündoğan.

Chelsea defender pursued by Newcastle as Magpies struggle to seal Guehi deal

England star Marc Guehi has been relentlessly linked with a move from Crystal Palace to Newcastle United this summer, but the Magpies are being forced to consider other options as Palace demand £70m.

Newcastle have reportedly had three bids rejected for the 24-year-old, and Joachim Andersen’s apparent departure from Palace makes an exit for Guehi less likely as it would see the Eagles lose both their centre-backs. Instead, Eddie Howe’s side might be able to help alleviate some of the pressure at Chelsea by taking Axel Disasi off their hands. His stance at Stamford Bridge is hard to gauge - he did miss out on their first Premier League squad of the season, but that could be linked to a hernia operation over the summer and he was part of the squad that travelled to the US in preseason.

The report from The Athletic also names Bayer Leverkusen’s Edmond Tapsoba as an option. Hailing from Burkina Faso, he was a crucial part of last season’s incredible Bundesliga title charge and the champions will not let him go cheaply. He is contracted to the club until 2028 and that reportedly includes a release clause of over £80m, which would make him Newcastle’s most expensive signing ever.

At that point they might as well meet Palace’s demands for Guehi, and there’s the added obstacle that Tapsoba’s recent comments in an interview with Kicker suggest he has little interest in leaving Leverkusen.