Newcastle target 'not for sale' after £18m bid and loan deal agreed - Keith Downie

At this stage of the window, Eddie Howe may want new signings to tick two key boxes above all else: Premier League experience and the ability immediately improve our squad heading into the season.

With only two senior signings made so far, the manager will be hoping for as many new faces as possible to be brought in to bolster the side after all the departures we've had over the last six months.

But with just over a week to go until our season opener at Villa Park, we'll have a tough time prying squad players from any of our league rivals,  who will charge a premium price so close to the beginning of the campaign.

This appears to be the case with John McGinn, while another Mag appears to be heading for the exit door just after Martin Dubravka left for Burnley earlier today...

Toon facing McGinn fight

In surprise news on Wednesday afternoon, it was reported by Craig Hope that Newcastle were considering a bid for Aston Villa captain John McGinn.

Almost 24 hours on, Sky Sports' Keith Downie reports that Newcastle are interest in the 30-year-old Scot - but Villa are insisting on a 'not for sale' stance.

In fact, Villa's position has already been tested, with Everton seeing an £18m bid rejected for the all-action midfielder today, as Sky report.

McGinn is being targeted to replace Sean Longstaff, with Eddie Howe insisting this week that he wants SIX midfielders to pick from over the 2025/26 season.

Vlachodimos set for loan

Staying with Sky Sports and Keith Downie, the North East reporter has also confirmed reports we shared earlier on Odysseas Vlachodimos' seemingly imminent move to Spain.

Downie confirms that the 31-year-old goalkeeper is on his way out and has agreed to join Sevilla, with the former Benica No. 1 now on his way to Spain ahead of a medical.

The Greek international has never played a Premier League game for the club and is not in Howe's plans.

More on McGinn

On the surface, paying around £20m for a player of McGinn’s calibre feels like a more than reasonable price.

He would be an excellent replacement for Sean Longstaff, owing to his European experience, reliability and leadership capabilities. And Howe will no doubt like to see competition between our star trio of Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali, Joelinton and those itching to start ahead of them.

But have we left things too late once again? Villa have no major need nor desire to sell, but will recognise our desperation for a new midfielder.

They, like the whole footballing world, will also know that we were prepared to submit a club record bid to sign Benjamin Sesko, and now that has officially fallen through, we’ve got funds to spend.

So the club hierarchy and recruitment team have a tough choice to make: stick to our guns and avoid overpaying at all costs, or finally back the manager to avoid a repeat of the 2023/24 season, where a lack of squad depth cost us dearly?