Mark Douglas has issued an update on the Toon transfer front in his latest piece for i news this afternoon.
He reports that Sven Botman is ‘open’ to signing at St James’ Park this summer, but admits that ‘progress remains slow’ on that front – despite the fact we’ve ‘agreed the framework of a deal’ with Lille.
Newcastle expect to make progress ‘soon’ on incomings, however, with talks set to take place in the coming days over Hugo Ekitike’s proposed move to Tyneside in a bid to break the impasse surrounding that deal.
Interestingly, Douglas reveals what ‘club sources’ have told him regarding the extent of our spending this summer, stating that our new owners do not plan to spend more than £100m on incomings.
Instead, he claims that the club are looking to recruit with ‘intelligence’ and sign more gems like Bruno Guimaraes – opposed to just throwing huge money at big name stars.
Last but not least, it’s believed Everton ‘fear’ Newcastle will come forward with a bid for Dominic Calvert-Lewin; a player they appear reluctant to sell but someone they may have to cash in on to satisfy FFP regulations.
So, it seems Botman is happy to sign – even if his preference *may* be AC Milan – we are pushing for progress on Ekitike this week and our new owners remain intent on spending carefully; not splashing the cash carelessly in a bid to buy our way to the top.
After seeing the club pursue deals for Botman and Ekitike for over six months now, let’s hope we really do see progress on both fronts in the coming week. There’s plenty of time left to do business, but it won’t be a great look for the club if such drawn out pursuits don’t end positively.
Everton fear ? talk about trying to flog t your own players by linking him to us themselves. I certainly hope we don’t waste money on him, he had one good season and then was injured most of last, last thing we need is another injury prone striker especially one who will be vastly over priced cos he is an Rnglish international!!
David(Quote)