The Swedish winger will not be the only player arriving on Tyneside in the next month-and-a-half, with the Magpies determined to add to their squad in another two or three key areas.
Who are they currently targeting? And what is the state of play with the deals that are under discussion?
JAMES TRAFFORD
James Trafford (Image: Mike Egerton/PA) Newcastle and Burnley still remain a fair way apart in their valuation of Trafford, but the strong expectation is that a deal for the goalkeeper will be agreed in the next week or so.
Newcastle’s most recent offer of £27m was rejected, with Burnley holding out for £40m, but with Trafford keen on a move to St James’ Park, the current impasse cannot last forever.
Trafford was not involved in Burnley’s behind-closed-doors friendly win over Fleetwood at the weekend, and while the Clarets have not revealed whether the shot-stopper has travelled to Portugal with the rest of Scott Parker’s squad for a warm-weather training camp this week, it is telling that he was not shown on any of the photographs displayed on the club’s website.
Burnley have signed goalkeeper Max Weiss from Karlsruher on a two-year contract, ensuring their replacement for Trafford is already in place, and Newcastle’s long-running pursuit of the 22-year-old should finally reap its rewards once a final round of talks are concluded.
MARC GUEHI
Marc Guehi (Image: Bradley Collyer/PA) Newcastle’s interest in Guehi hasn’t gone away, but after failing with a series of bids for the Crystal Palace centre-half last summer, the Magpies have been happy to adopt a watching brief in the current window.
That’s partly because they don’t want to get drawn into another bidding war with Palace, who remain determined to extract the maximum possible value from their prime defensive asset, but it’s also an acknowledgement that Liverpool have held discussions of their own and are now the firm favourites to land the England international.
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Liverpool are reportedly set to table a final offer for Guehi later this week. If that is rejected and the Premier League champions walk away from discussions, Newcastle could make a new move of their own. As things stand, though, the likeliest scenario is that Guehi will start next season as a Liverpool player.
GIORGIO SCALVINI
Giorgio Scalvini with Atalanta’s Europa League winning side (Image: Niall Carson/PA Wire) Newcastle’s recruitment team like Scalvini a lot, but Atalanta don’t really want to sell the Italian international, and if they do, they’ll almost certainly demand a fee of at least €60m.
Newcastle aren’t worried about Scalvini’s injury problems as they are confident he has overcome the knee-ligament and shoulder issues that restricted him to just eight senior appearances last season. They also feel that the 21-year-old, who plays on the right side of the back four, the position they are targeting, offers huge development potential.
However, negotiating with Atalanta will almost certainly be difficult, and there is every chance Scalvini will fall outside Newcastle’s price bracket. An option then, but not one that feels particularly achievable.
CONOR GALLAGHER
Conor Gallagher (Image: Mike Egerton) Centre-midfield wasn’t really regarded as a priority position at the start of the summer, but that could change if Sean Longstaff is sold. Newcastle rejected a £12m offer from Leeds for Longstaff earlier this month, but given that he has entered the final year of his current contract, the 27-year-old’s future feels extremely uncertain.
If Longstaff leaves, Eddie Howe will want to replace him, and Gallagher has emerged as an appealing option in the last couple of weeks. The England international was a huge success at Atletico Madrid last season, making 32 La Liga appearances, but there are strong suggestions that his Spanish employers would be willing to sell.
The 25-year-old wouldn’t be cheap, but with Spanish media outlets suggesting Atletico could be willing to do a deal for around £40m, Newcastle would almost certainly be able to afford Gallagher if Longstaff was to leave, with the latter’s homegrown status meaning his fee would count as 100 per cent profit for PSR purposes.
HUGO EKITIKE
Hugo Ekitike (Image: PA Wire) Newcastle need a new forward following the exit of Callum Wilson, but is a deal for Ekitike, one of the most highly-rated strikers in European football, realistic?
It feels like a bit of a stretch, with Ekitike’s release clause in his Eintracht Frankfurt contract set at €100m (around £84m). Could Newcastle afford to shell out that much money on one player? And even if they could, would Ekitike be interested in a move to Tyneside if, as Newcastle sources insist is the case, there is no chance of Alexander Isak leaving this summer?
The interest in Ekitike is more than simply ‘paper talk’, with Newcastle officials understood to have made preliminary inquiries into the French forward’s potential availability via a string of intermediaries. As things stand, however, there has been no formal contact with Eintracht Frankfurt officials.
YOANE WISSA
Yoane Wissa (Image: PA Wire) Wissa feels like a more realistic attacking target than Ekitike, although persuading Brentford to part with the forward when they are already resigned to losing Bryan Mbeumo this summer will not be easy.
Wissa had an excellent campaign in the Premier League last season, scoring 19 league goals, and his signing would immediately strengthen Newcastle’s attacking ranks. Brentford reportedly value him at around £60m, a figure that should be within the Magpies’ reach.
Unlike Joao Pedro, who Newcastle were pushing so hard for earlier this summer, though, Wissa is really an out-and-out striker who does not offer much positional versatility. Given that he turns 29 in September, he does not really fall within the Magpies’ preferred age range either. A possible, but probably no more than that at this stage.