Newcastle United have agreed a deadline day deal to bring Hamza Choudhury to St James’ Park, according to The Telegraph’s Luke Edwards.
He reports that the 23-year-old will sign on an initial loan deal which ‘could become a permanent one next summer’ – suggesting we’ll have an option to buy the former England U21.
Interestingly, Edwards claims that Steve Bruce is also trying to persuade Mike Ashley to sanction ‘at least one more’ signing after Choudhury, stating that the arrival of a centre back is ‘most likely.’
Here’s a snippet from his big transfer update on The Telegraph’s live blog, which includes a few intriguing lines on what could yet turn out to be a busy deadline day at NUFC:
Newcastle United manager Steve Bruce is set to land his second signing of the summer in the form of Leicester City midfielder Hamza Choudhury.
The 23 year-old will add some needed bite into the Newcastle midfield and will sign initially on loan although the move could become a permanent one next summer.
A former England international, Newcastle were close to signing him back in January before an injury crisis forced Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers to put a block on it.
Choudhury has been a long term target of the Newcastle manager and there is frustration it has taken so long to do.
Interestingly, Bruce is also trying to persuade the club to sign at least one more player before the deadline with a centre back the most likely.
Having been on the receiving end of abuse from Newcastle fans during the 2-2 draw against Southampton, Bruce mood has darkened over the weekend as he watched most clubs in the bottom half of the table, including Norwich, Watford, Crystal Palace and Leeds United all make a flurry signings
Edwards has also confirmed that Santiago Munoz is set to sign, with him a Steve Nickson buy who’ll initially worth within our U23 setup.
Back to Choudhury, he may not get bums off seats or be a particularly exciting signing, however he’s a tough tackling midfielder who is quick to press and more capable on the ball than some give him credit for.
Considering how unbalanced and flimsy our midfield has looked in our open three games this season, he could add some much needed steel and tenacity to our engine room.
