Newcastle United and Leicester City have reportedly engaged in a fresh round of talks over Harvey Barnes, and a move for the winger could be confirmed this week.
The Magpies have as yet signed one player this summer, and it was a big signing, in Sandro Tonali from AC Milan. They did, however, miss out on major target James Maddison, who was instead snapped up by Tottenham.
Newcastle have been in pursuit of his former Leicester teammate, Barnes, for some time. In fact, it was reported in June that they’d submitted a joint offer of £50million for the pair, that was obviously turned down.
While the chance to sign Maddison has gone, there’s still a good chance Eddie Howe’s side end up with Barnes at their disposal.
If Barnes was the decision maker in the move, he’d seemingly already be at St James’ Park. Indeed, a recent report stated he ‘wants to join’ Newcastle.
That decision comes courtesy of the fact he wants to work under Howe, along with the ‘huge draw’ of Champions League football – something he’s not yet experienced in his career.
Things now seem to be running smoothly on the club’s side, too.
The Times states the move has taken a ‘significant step’, with the clubs ‘engaging in fresh talks’ over the last day in order to ‘conclude a deal’.
Those talks seem to be going very well, as there’s a belief the deal could be agreed ‘this week’ with Barnes moving for £35million.
If the deal for Howe’s ‘primary target’ is to go through, the report suggests the Magpies will then have spent their ‘net transfer budget’, having signed two players.
It would seem they may need to ship some assets out if they are in on the hunt for any more fresh faces, not wanting to infringe upon Financial FairPlay regulations.
In any case, Howe will be happy to have acquired the services of Barnes if the deal does go through. The winger had his best season in front of goal at any level last campaign, and playing in a better side could well see his numbers improve.
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