Earlier this summer, it was reported by The Athletic, The Chronicle and The Telegraph that Steve Bruce’s transfer budget was around £35m.
The prevailing opinion was that this could be boosted by player sales, but with no cash arriving for fringe men as of yet and Bruce spending the vast majority of his budget on Wilson (£20m), Lewis (£13.5m), Fraser, Hendrick and Gillespie, he won’t have much to play with in the remaining 10 days of the transfer window.
That said, there may be a bit of room for manoeuvre if we cash in on Atsu and Yedlin, loan out the likes of Barlaser and find anyone who’ll take the likes of Saivet, Aarons and Lazaar off our hands.
If some cash is raised, there’s THREE deals I feel we should be all over in the coming week or so, starting with a Chelsea talent who could leave on loan following the influx of big money signings at Stamford Bridge.
That man is Ruben Loftus-Cheek. A powerful midfielder who could bring that ball-carrying ability and dynamism our central midfield has so often lacked.
Some may struggle to see where he fits in, but with him able to play anywhere in midfield and falling down the pecking order at Chelsea, he would be a brilliant way to use one of our TWO domestic loan deals.
He’s also a player who’ll be on the radar of our recruitment team, with us regularly linked with the England international during Rafa Benitez’s last few years on Tyneside.
Moving to France, there’s been two names emerge in recent days who’ve long since been linked with potential moves to St James’ Park – and it’s claimed both could leave for as little as £7-£9m.
Starting in Nice, it looks like the Ligue 1 club will cash in on box-to-box midfielder Wylan Cyprien while they can before his contract expires next summer and he leaves on a free.
L’Equipe claim the former teammate of Toon star Allan Saint-Maximin is now available for just £9m and it’s put us on ‘alert’ as a result – which is no surprise given The Chronicle said we’d been long-term admirers of the 25-year-old just earlier this year.
Staying in France, Toulouse powerhouse Ibrahim Sangare looks set to leave following their relegation to Ligue 2.
He may have been part of a side that struggled last season, but Sangare is one of the most highly-rated young defensive midfielder’s in Europe – yet could be allowed to leave for just £7m according to The Telegraph.
Yes we have Isaac Hayden, who’s just signed a new deal at St James’ Park, but we don’t own a single other holding midfielder should he get injured – and I’d also argue he needs competition to keep him on his toes in that area of the field.
Sangare is 22, stands 6ft 3′ and is capable of carrying the ball forward, spraying passes and breaking up the play. At £7m, Mike Ashley of all people should be licking his lips, with him likely to be worth more than quadruple that before long.
A centre-back and striker are said to be top of Steve Bruce’s list, but with our interest in all three of the above sating back a few years, we should look to take a chance on one of them over the coming week.
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