Newcastle United are in negotiations with Burnley over the signing of goalkeeper Nick Pope.
Sky Sports News reported last week Eddie Howe was interested in the England goalkeeper and talks are now well under way.
It is understood Pope is keen to remain in the Premier League with an eye on his England place at the World Cup in Qatar this winter.
The 30-year-old, who was named in Gareth Southgate’s most recent England squad, would be viewed as an excellent addition to Newcastle’s goalkeeping ranks.
Talks are also continuing for Sven Botman and Hugo Ekitike, though Newcastle are prepared to move onto other targets if progress is not made with either player soon.
Not the “revolution people expect”, according to Eddie Howe. Hardly a glowing review of Newcastle’s prospective transfer policy this summer, however pragmatic.
Financial Fair Play (FFP) will prohibit Newcastle from lavishly splurging in the upcoming window, despite now being one of the richest clubs in world football. They spent in excess of £90m in January alone.
It’s clear that a goalkeeper is top of the wishlist, with good options in either Man Utd’s Dean Henderson or Chelsea’s Kepa Arrizabalaga. There is also some dispute over attacking options – with Chris Wood yet to find his scoring boots and Callum Wilson finding both form and fitness hard to come by.
Rebuilding the squad over time and developing existing talent, as well as a couple of astute additions should provide Newcastle with enough leverage to compete at the right end of the table. Certainly nothing less than top half would be proportionate to the expenditure next season. Howe’s emphasis on “smart moves” over a reckless spending spree should serve the club well in the long term, though.
Newcastle Q&A: Who are Toon’s other targets this summer
On Sky Sports’ Transfer Talk Podcast, Pete Graves gives insight into who could be coming into Newcastle, how much they are prepared to spend and who could leave St James’ Park in their biggest window ever.
“There’s Hugo Ekitike and Sven Botman who are two top-quality players in France, they are the two players who are closest to getting through the door.
“Newcastle have been linked with Lucas Paqueta from Lyon who is great friends with Bruno Guimaraes. The midfielder came over and spent his birthday with Bruno and was even photographed wearing a Newcastle shirt in Bruno’s garden! That got Newcastle fans excited, he’s a starting international for Brazil. Whether they would make a move for him, I’m not sure. I think for Lyon, the price would have to be right. Other top clubs are interested in Paqueta as well.
“I think Newcastle want a goalkeeper as well with someone who could compete with Martin Dubravka for the number one spot. They definitely want to add in key positions. Right wing is another player they want to bring in, the likes of Moussa Diaby at Bayer Leverkusen and Ismalia Sarr at Watford. They would love to sign Diaby but they have been quoted a fee in the region of £60m, from what I’ve heard, which at this stage would be a little out of their price range.
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“I think they will add a right winger, one maybe two strikers, a central midfielder, a central defender and a goalkeeper – so they want to strengthen all the way through the spine.”
