The Magpies had an initial offer, reportedly worth £65.4million with a further £4.3m in potential add-ons, rejected last week for the Slovenia international, who has also been linked with Manchester United.
But after being told on Monday that the Slovenian was interested in the St James’ Park switch, an improved club record offer of £69.7m plus add-ons was submitted to the Bundesliga club, it is understood.
Recent reports in Slovenia claimed the 22-year-old would prefer a move to St James’ Park rather than Old Trafford, while he was left out of Leipzig’s squad for Saturday’s friendly against Atalanta.
Manchester United haven’t yet tabled a formal offer for the striker, and Newcastle are now hoping things move quickly.
Should Newcastle succeed in landing Sesko, capped 41 times by Slovenia and who scored 21 goals in 45 appearances in all competitions for Leipzig last season, it could have a huge bearing on the future of striker Alexander Isak.
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Newcastle last week rejected a £110million bid from Liverpool for the Sweden international, but the Premier League champions are likely to return with an improved offer if and when the Magpies have a replacement in place.
Isak is again at Newcastle’s training ground today having returned to the club’s Benton base on Monday. The striker didn’t travel with the squad for their pre-season trip to Asia and instead trained alone at his former club Real Sociedad.
Showdown talks were planned this week with head coach Eddie Howe, who fired a warning to the striker at the weekend when he said: “You have to earn the right to train with us.
“We are Newcastle United. The player has a responsibility here to be part of a team and part of a squad – you have to act in the right way. So that is also at play here.”
Isak wants the Liverpool move this summer, but Newcastle won’t entertain the prospect of selling their star striker until they have a replacement in place. They also won’t budge on their valuation of the 25-year-old, who still has three years to run on his contract with the Magpies.
Meanwhile, Newcastle remain hopeful of striking a deal for Yoane Wissa, with Brentford boss Keith Andrews admitting uncertainty over the forward’s future “is not ideal”.
Wissa wants to move to Newcastle and returned home early from Brentford’s pre-season camp in Portugal last month. He’s played no part in any of the Bees’ summer friendlies so far, but the Magpies haven’t yet been able to come to an agreement with their Premier League rivals.
Andrews said: “The situation is he’s training at the training ground but I think it’s probably public knowledge at this stage that he left that training camp in Lisbon.
“It was probably the right decision for all parties in that we had to support him in what is a difficult time for him.
“We need to remember that it’s not just about the footballer, it’s about the human being and the person first. Again, public knowledge that there is some interest in Wissa so we have to respect that, respect him.
“I’ve got a really good relationship with Yoane from last season and that is still the case now but obviously, it’s not ideal. [There is] constant communication with Yoane around the situation.
“We always treat people with respect and again, when you look at the business we’ve done this season with the outgoings, it’s been done early.
“This is probably not wanted. It’s not an ideal scenario but what transfer window is.”
