Newcastle confident of sealing triple transfer raid this week
Newcastle are hopeful of a triple arrival on the transfer front this week as Steve Bruce plots further additions ahead of the new Premier League season.
The Magpies kick off the campaign at West Ham on Saturday. But their squad could be lifted by the arrival of three new faces after a series of breakthroughs over the weekend.
Bournemouth striker Callum Wilson arrived on Tyneside on Sunday evening to undergo a medical. The two clubs have agreed a fee in the region of £20million.
Aston Villa are understood to have tabled a higher bid for the England international. However, they withdrew from the race when the player indicated his preference for a move to Tyneside.
It’s also understood that Wilson’s former Cherries team-mate Ryan Fraser is also due in the North-East in the next 24 hours for a medical.
Fraser, 26, rejected the offer of a short-term deal to finish last season with Bournemouth. He left the Vitality Stadium in June and has been a free agent ever since.
He’s emerged as one of the Premier League’s best wingers outside the top six, since arriving from Aberdeen in January 2013. His signing on a free will be seen as a coup for the Magpies. It first emerged last week they had persuaded him his future lies at St James’ Park.
In addition, Bruce will hope to complete a move for Norwich defender Jamal Lewis. That’s after the club had a bid understood to amount to £13.75million plus add-ons accepted by the Canaries.
Lewis, 22, is currently on international duty with Northern Ireland. They play Norway in the Nations League at Windsor Park on Monday evening. But the move should go through later this week.
Newcastle can revel in solid summer business
Should Newcastle finalise all three deals, they can claim to have had a decent summer. Newcastle have already signed Burnley midfielder Jeff Hendrick and Motherwell goalkeeper Mark Gillespie too.
Mike Ashley was reluctant to sanction transfer activity as the club’s takeover saga took a series of further twists. However, once Amanda Staveley’s largely Saudi-backed consortium withdrew its bid, Ashley has done the decent thing.
Wilson, Fraser and Lewis, of course, all played for clubs which were relegated from the top flight at the end of last season. However, all three are men who were held in high regard long before that point.
