United have a world-class striker already on the books, although speculation that Michael Owen's stay on Tyneside is only to keep him in a job before Liverpool finally cough up the money for him, refuses to go away.
With a new manager unnamed, Newcastle (accordng to some newspapers) have been running the rule over a series of targets - chief scout David Mills was recently dispatched to watch long-term target Dirk Kuyt, who took his total for the season to 25 in Feyenoord's 4-2 play-off semi-final defeat by Ajax at the weekend.
The likelihood is Newcastle will spend big again this summer to increase the firepower at their disposal. Owen has played only 10 games so far this season and scored seven goals a statistic which underlines just why the Magpies are so keen to keep him on board.
Ameobi has now scored nine goals in 31 appearances this season, while Chopra's strike at Sunderland was his first in the Barclays Premiership in his 18th appearance, although the West Brom game was just his fifth league start.