Manager issues Newcastle United transfer update amid wages stumbling block to midfielder deal

Hendrick has played 38 games so far this season for the Championship team, and Paul Ince wants to keep the 31-year-old Republic of Ireland international – who has a year left on his contract – at the club.

Reading have not been able to spend a fee on a player since 2021 after breaking the EFL’s profit and sustainability rules with a £57.8million loss over a four-year period. The 20th-placed club hope that the ban will be lifted in the summer.

“It’s difficult because of the embargo, and we can’t really afford to pay the wages we’d like,” said Ince. “Hopefully, the embargo gets lifted – and then, hopefully, we can spend a bit more than what we have done this year.”

Ince – who joined Newcastle as a free agent in the summer of 2020 after his Burnley contract expired – wants to sign Hendrick on a permanent basis.

“Ideally, he’s one of the players you can keep,” Ince told Sportingpost.com. “He’s based in London, he’s got a family down here.

“In my life, I’ve played with and managed some great players, but, to me, he’s the ultimate pro. He comes in every day and does it right. He’s a great lad, everybody loves him. You know what you’re going to get out of him, seven or eight out of ten every week. He cares about his job.”

Hendrick, loaned to Queens Park Rangers last season, is not in Eddie Howe’s plans at United.

“Newcastle have gone down a different road, and I think Jeff knows that,” said Ince. “If we can afford to keep him next year, then that’d be great.

“But I can’t think about next year. I need to think about keeping the team in the Championship, which is going to be tough enough as it is – and then we go from there.

“But if anybody asks me what the idea of a perfect professional is, it’s Jeff Hendrick, because he’s a super guy.

“Fingers crossed, and everything goes well for us, and we manage to stay up, then we’d like to keep hold of him.”

Hendrick has made 25 Premier League appearances, and scored three goals, for Newcastle.