Reported Newcastle target Sasa Kalajdzic overshadowed in Austria win by Marko Arnautovic

Reported Newcastle target Sasa Kalajdzic started for Austria on Sunday, as they kicked off Euro 2020 with a win over North Macedonia.

But while it ended up being a routine win for Austria, things didn’t go totally to plan for the striker.

Austria did take the lead, but were pegged back before half-time by the immortal Goran Pandev.

They turned things around in the second half, but only after Kalajdzic was replaced.

He was hooked in the 59th minute, replaced the talented but temperamental Marko Arnautovic.

The former West Ham and Stoke forward made his mark, scoring Austria’s third after rounding the goalkeeper to seal victory.

Afterwards, the former Hammers talisman ‘celebrated’ in rather angry fashion.

But while afterwards viewers were talking about the raging Arnautovic or the wonderful display by David Alaba, no one was interested in Kalajdzic.

Newcastle reportedly can’t afford Sasa Kalajdzic

According to the Athletic, the Magpies have been watching Kalajdzic, who scored 16 times for Stuttgart this season.

However, they apparently have no chance of signing him because he’ll cost too much money.

But based on Sunday afternoon’s performance, should Kalajdzic really be worth that much? Would Newcastle really want to pay that much for a Callum Wilson backup?

He barely got a sniff of goal, and the one chance he had was saved by Stole Dimitrevski.

Newcastle aren’t the only Premier League club apparently interested in Kalajdzic. The forward is also a target for West Ham and Everton.

But he will need to improve during the rest of the tournament if he hopes to use Euro 2020 as a springboard to the Premier League.

Kalajdzic and Austria return to action on Thursday night against the Netherlands.

Newcastle reportedly look set to miss out on Kalajdzic, but based on Sunday’s performance, they needn’t worry.