Newcastle ‘interested’ in surprise deal to sign former England international – Report

According to The Mirror, Newcastle are interested in a surprise deal to sign Everton defender Leighton Baines – with the experienced left-back set to lose his place in Marco Silva’s starting 11 following the arrival of Barcelona’s Lucas Digne.

The 33-year-old left-back has made over 400 appearances for Everton, bagging an impressive 38 goals and 66 assists along the way, however his game time has reduced over the past few seasons following a few injury problems.

With Everton set to confirm the signing of French international left-back Lucas Digne today – who’s arriving for £22n from Barcelona – it’s been reported in The Mirror that both ourselves, Burnley and an unnamed MLS side are keen to sign him.

Here’s a snippet from their piece on Digne’s arrival and Baines’ potential exit today:

‘Barcelona have confirmed Lucas Digne has been given permission to leave their pre-season tour to complete his switch to Everton.

‘The defender is set to make the move to Goodison Park in a £22million deal.

‘Everton have identified Digne, who moved to Barcelona two years ago from Paris Saint-German, as Leighton Baines’ long-term successor.

‘There is interest in 33-year-old former England international Baines from America, as well as Burnley and Newcastle.’

We sorely lack Premier League experience and need another left-back to compete with Paul Dummett, however I’m not sure I can see this happening.

He’ll be on big wages and I imagine he’s pretty settled on Merseyside – still being their club captain and probably happy to take more of back-seat role next season given he turns 34 later this year.

I imagine he’ll also be seen as the perfect mentor for Digne following his imminent arrival from Barcelona – although he may look to leave if he’s still keen to play week in week out in the Premier League.

If it was possible, would you be happy to see him arrive on a short-term deal?