Newcastle United transfer news: Gayle, Ritchie and defender swoop latest; striker wanted

The Magpies are set to confirm the signing of Dwight Gayle, from Crystal Palace...and he may not be the last new signing this week.

Here's the latest:

Gayle is set to be announced as Newcastle's second signing of the summer in a deal worth around £10million. The Crystal Palace striker will sign a five-year deal after passing a medical and agreeing personal terms.

He will join Belgian Matz Sels at St James's Park, after the goalkeeper completed his move from Gent yesterday. Sels has since returned to his homeland to sort out a number of personal issues, but will return to Tyneside tomorrow for pre-season training.

Before he went, he explained why he decided to snub Premier League clubs to swap the Champions League for the Championship. The full story is here.Newcastle hope that they will be able to persuade Andros Townsend to stay at the club to supply Gayle with the ammunition to fire them back into the Premier league. Townsend has been widely tipped to move the other way and join Palace, but reports today suggest Rafa Benitez will hold further talks with the winger in a bid to keep him at the club.

If Townsend does decide to leave, Newcastle appear to have a ready-made replacement lined up in Matt Ritchie.

The Bournemouth winger is ready to fly to Tyneside today after the Magpies opened talks with his representatives over a move to St James's, and it may be that United continue to push through a transfer regardless of whether Townsend leaves.

However, Benitez is also understood to be closing in on a defender as well. He has earmarked a centre-half to replace Steven Taylor, who left the club after his contract expired.

One player who could leave the club, at least on a temporary basis, is striker Ivan Toney. The youngster is wanted on loan by his former club Northampton Town - details here.