According to The Mirror, Newcastle will finally appoint a new Director of Football in the next few weeks to oversee our summer spending plans.
Simon Bird – The Mirror’s man in the North-East – also claims that we’ve already lined up summer moves for Lille’s Sven Botman and Benfica striker Darwin Nunez.
He states that the £70m-rated duo were leading January targets for the club’s recruitment team and will be the first names targeted this summer should we stay up.
As for any incoming Director of Football, Brighton’s Dan Ashworth has been heavily linked with the role, having been given permission to speak with the club in December.
Interestingly, Mark Douglas recently claimed that sources at Brighton expect him to be appointed ‘soon’ – suggesting he could be the man we end up with – and also claims Darwin Nunez is ‘keen’ to join us this summer.
Here’s a reminder of what Botman said on deadline day, hinting at a summer exit and talking up a potential move to Tyneside:
“I will continue here at Lille OSC and play in the Champions League against Lukaku and this Sunday against Messi, not bad at all.
“But this will be my last months at Lille OSC.”
“I can confirm both Newcastle and AC Milan were concrete options this winter.
“Both were good options for me. I will take a good step in my career next summer”.
“Everyone says about Newcastle: it’s all about money. But it’s a very nice project.
“If you look at where Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain started. I think it would be very nice to be part of that, but of course Milan is also a beautiful club”
