Rafa Benitez wants Andros Townsend back at Newcastle this summer and it’s now become clear just what needs to happen to make the move a reality – with Liverpool, West Ham, Stoke AND Crystal Palace all having a huge part to play.
It’s a bit of a complex one, highlighting the complexity of modern days deals, but it all makes a lot of sense..
Based on what we’ve just heard on Sky Sports, here’s a step by step explanation of how things could be set to pan out, showing just how moves from West Ham, Palace, Stoke and Liverpool will make or break a potential deal for NUFC:
Shaqiri arrives at #LFC for medical. This could kickstart the midfield-merry-go-round. Ritchie to #SCFC, Townsend to #NUFC, Antonio to #CPFC. All the latest transfer news on @SkySportsNews
— Pete Graves (@PeteGravesSky) July 13, 2018
- Shaqiri (Stoke) is on his way to Liverpool – who have activated his £13.5m release clause
- This will hand Stoke additional funds – and they’re expected to use those to lodge a fresh bid for Ritchie
- We’ll only sell Ritchie if we get Townsend – but Palace will only sell him if they get a replacement in first.
- Palace are targeting West Ham’s Antonio as a result, with him set to be sold now Pellegrini’s signed Yarmalenko.
- If they land Antonio, Townsend will be made available – but we’ll only buy if Stoke pay up for Matt Ritchie.
So, in essence, the following deals could occur in a bit of a transfer merry-go-round that allows us to sign Townsend:
Shaqiri to Liverpool (£13.5m)
Antonio to Crystal Palace (£15m)
Ritchie to Stoke (£15m)
Townsend to Newcastle (£17m)
Shaqiri goes to Liverpool, Ritchie goes to Stoke, and assuming Antonio goes to Palace then we should be able to get our paws on Townsend. https://t.co/AQHRHz8cPm
— NG (@NewcastleGoals) July 12, 2018
It makes sense, but transfer deals rarely work as smoothly as the above suggests – and this highlights just how complex some deals are in the modern days market.
Shame I would have liked Shaqiri myself
Still there is always Chadli at WBA
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