Newcastle United are considering loan acquisitions this summer, with Manchester City’s Kalvin Phillips and Chelsea’s Conor Gallagher both interested, but negotiations with Southampton over Tino Livramento appear to have broken down.
Newcastle made a proposal for the full-back last week but were unable to reach an agreement on the amount, despite the fact that the player is eager to transfer.
Southampton want more than £30 million (€34.9 million) for the England U-21 international, but Newcastle are unwilling to pay that amount and are threatening to walk away from the deal because they do not believe the recently-relegated club is being reasonable with their demands.
Newcastle’s bid, which is said to have climbed to £21 million (€24.4 million), remains on the table, but they will withdraw if no movement is achieved this week.
Newcastle have demonstrated they can be deceptive when it comes to the size of their budgets and the identity of their targets, but they have more pressing priorities this summer than buying a right-back to compete with captain Kieran Trippier.
According to sources at St James’ Park, asking prices have been “astronomically high” thus far this summer, and they do not have a lot of money to spend.
It has also been stated that they are scouring Europe for bargains and players who might be permitted to depart on loan with the option or responsibility to buy at the end of next season.
Everyone in a position to provide an accurate assessment of the situation agrees that a large portion of their budget has been spent on the Italian Sandro Tonali, who cost £52 million (€60.5 million) and will be announced as a Newcastle player this week.
Although a right-sided center-back appears to be the most pressing need, the initial idea this summer was to recruit a left-back and two midfielders, not just one.
That leaves the club with a lot of work to do – and allegedly very little money to do it with.
Newcastle is keeping a close eye on Phillips’ status at Manchester City in case he is given permission to depart later this summer. Phillips has been emphatic that he wants to compete for a starting spot under Pep Guardiola, but that could alter when he returns for pre-season and is told that his playing time will be limited once more.
Newcastle have made enquiries about signing Gallagher from Chelsea in each of the last two transfer windows, but new boss Mauricio Pochettino is said to want to give the England international another chance at Stamford Bridge.
With Ryan Fraser, Karl Darlow, Jeff Hendrick, Isaac Hayden, and Javier Manquillo available, Newcastle sorely needs to transfer players on to free up wage space.
Allan Saint-Maximin might be moved if they receive an enticing bid around the £40m (€46.6m) area, but Howe want to keep him.
To a considerable part, it is determined by the player’s mental state. If he expresses a desire to return to Tyneside for another season, any plans to sell him will be abandoned.
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