Newcastle ‘eye’ Everton and Chelsea stars as Moussa Diaby alternative as Mainz friendly to go ahead despite protests

Here, we round-up all the latest stories that have emerged today surrounding Newcastle United:

Mainz friendly to go ahead

Mainz have confirmed that their planned friendly match with Newcastle United will go ahead as planned, despite protests from Mainz supporters over Newcastle’s ‘ownership structure’.

The Magpies will face the Bundesliga outfit in Austria on July 18 after Mainz sporting director Christian Heidl confirmed that his side would carry-on with their ‘contractual agreements’:

"From a sporting perspective, we cannot do without this test match.” Heidl said.

"A unilateral cancellation by us, as demanded by some fans, is unthinkable, as this could have serious legal and economic consequences for us and us due to the contractual obligations fundamentally stand by our contractual agreements."

Newcastle will face Gateshead and 1860 Munich before the clash with Mainz in just less than a fortnight’s time.

They will also face Benfica in Portugal before hotly-anticipated back-to-back home games with Atalanta and Athletic Club at the end of the month which, on Tuesday morning, had thousands of fans queuing in order to purchase tickets for.

NUFC’s winger interest

After the arrivals of Matt Targett, Nick Pope and Sven Botman, the Magpies will turn their attention towards the market for attacking players this summer.

Multiple strikers, including Hugo Ekitike, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Ivan Toney have been linked with the club, but a winger is also believed to be on the agenda this summer.

Bayer Leverkusen’s Moussa Diaby is reportedly high on their list, but a club-record fee would have to be shelled out if United were to land the Frenchman.

According to 90min, Chelsea’s Callum Hudson-Odoi and Everton’s Anthony Gordon have also emerged as potential targets.

Former Magpie details coaching ambitions

Ex-Newcastle United striker Duncan Ferguson has left his role at Everton in-order to pursue opportunities as a full-time manager.

Ferguson, who scored 12 times in 41 Magpies appearances, has revealed his ambitions to become a manager after a couple of spells in charge of the Toffees as caretaker boss:

“It’s been a massive decision for me, an incredibly difficult one but I need to move on, to take that next step in my career and look for that new challenge,” Ferguson told EvertonTV. “Being a caretaker manager has given me confidence to step into management.”