According to Football Insider, Newcastle valued Dwight Gayle at £20m last summer and will refuse to sell him at a reduced fee in January – despite him being out of contract next summer.
The striker can leave on a free agent if no new deal is agreed between now and the end of the season, but the report claims that Steve Bruce has demanded any offers for the 30-year-old to be blocked next month, with him deemed a key squad player should Callum Wilson get injured.
Gayle ended the 2019/20 season impressively, bagging four goals and an assist during eight appearances over Project Restart.
He was benefiting from Bruce’s switch to a four-man defence, however he suffered a knee injury over pre-season, meaning he’s yet to kick a ball in competitive action since July.
That said, he has been spotted back in first-team training last week, with Steve Bruce’s recent comments suggesting he’s looking sharp and has a big part to play this season.
Although he’s been needed – Carroll, Joelinton and Muto have hardly been reliable options up top – it does seem silly that we could lose a squad player on a free so soon after a top Championship club would’ve no doubt given us £10-£15m.
Who knows, he may yet earn a new deal should he prove his fitness over the coming months, but I can’t help but wish he’d stayed at West Brom and we’d kept Salomon Rondon last summer!
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According to football insider we were close to signing Messi and Ronaldo not long back it’s nothing more than total and utter click bait. And as for Gayle the championship is his standard injury prone and should of been sold ages ago but still probably a better option than Joelinton
ToonRme(Quote)