The Telegraph have released a new piece on the Toon transfer front this morning, revealing the latest on Sven Botman, Kieran Trippier, James Tarkowski and Georginio Wijnaldum.
First off, Luke Edwards reports that we’ve had an approach for Lille’s Sven Botman rejected by the Ligue 1 side.
He claims that they’ve told the club to forget about signing the highly-rated centre-back this month, insisting he is NOT for sale after initial talks over a £30m deal.
That said, The Telegraph claim Botman is ‘fascinated by the project’ on offer at St James’ Park and is interested in the move, meaning a deal could still happen if he pushes to leave.
Elsewhere, Burnley’s James Tarkowski is also said to want a January move to Newcastle, however Sean Dyche is ‘extremely reluctant’ to sell his star centre-back – especially to a relegation rival – and is blocking any progress on that front.
This seems to be another defensive deal that isn’t dead just yet, however, with Edwards stating that things could change if Burnley can find a suitable replacement, as Tarkowski will leave on a free in the summer if he isn’t sold this month.
As for Kieran Trippier, the club are believed to be very confident the England international will be arriving at St James’ Park this month.
A deal hasn’t been agreed just yet, but the 31-year-old wants the move to happen and, based on Diego Simeone’s latest comments, it seems the Atletico Madrid boss won’t stand in his way.
Last but not least, The Telegraph state that a loan move for ex-Mag Georginio Wijnaldum could come into our thinking ‘later in the window.’
It seems a move for the unsettled PSG midfielder isn’t currently on our radar, however the piece does state that we’ll look at a deal to bring the Dutchman back if other midfield targets can’t be signed.
The biggest concern for me is whether we actually have experienced people at the club who can conclude a transfer deal. Also don’t like to see all these “approaches” appearing in the media, alerting rival bidders and often raising false hopes. I would love to see the likes of Trippier, the Burnley Centre back, a midfielder of the stature of Ramsay and a proven PL striker, even if he’s only on loan. Above all please get the deals done behind closed doors and get them quickly over the line. The hard work on deals should have been done before window opened – I see Rafa got his main target signed and sealed on 1st January!!!
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John Gofton(Quote)