Bruce eyeing TWO late loan deals as he waits to hear back from the “big six” – The Athletic

We may yet see new faces arrive at St James’ Park in the final 11 days of the summer transfer window, according to The Athletic’s Chris Waugh.

He claims that Steve Bruce will play the long game for the remainder of the transfer window and is waiting to see which late loans become available from ‘big six’ clubs – meaning fringe men at Liverpool, Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs could be ones to watch out for.

Premier League loans are more than likely going to be our main targets – a striker and centre-back has been mentioned once again – as we still have two domestic loan spots available and appear to have spent the majority of our ‘£35m budget’ on Wilson (£20m) and Lewis (£15m).

Here’s what Waugh had to say on the latest Pod on the Tyne podcast for The Athletic:

“Newcastle’s transfer plans haven’t changed as of Sunday – as bad as Sunday was – there were already areas that we’re looking to strengthen and that remains centre-back and striker.

“[That will be] probably on loan, they still have two domestic loan slots; obviously you can bring in more loans from abroad as well, and basically, I think part of the strategy is they’re waiting to see what happens with the ‘big six’ clubs, who might become available.

“I think Bruce still expects there to be a few bits of business.”

A loan deal for Arsenal’s Rob Holding has fallen through, but he isn’t the only ‘target’ we’ve missed out on.

Liverpool’s Rhian Brewster now looks set to leave on a pricey permanent deal, not on a temporary basis, and Chelsea duo Michy Batshuayi and Conor Gallagher have been loaned out to Palace and West Brom respectively, so Bruce will wait have to wait with baited breath to see if he can bring in someone of their calibre.

Although the ‘big six’ is mentioned by Waugh, I imagine we’ll also be in contact with the likes of Leicester, Wolves and Everton. Hardly inspiring to be eyeing outcasts from sides we used to outperform, but the reality is that they have a few unused players who’d be good additions to our squad.

We definitely need some new acquisitions if Sunday’s showing is anything to go by.

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