Newcastle offer for 11-goal winger deemed 'ridiculous' as Magpies eye double swoop

Newcastle United are assessing their options now the summer transfer window is open and while there are multiple names being linked to a St James’ Park switch, some existing players are also being lined up for potential departures.

The Magpies have wasted no time in kicking off their summer as Lloyd Kelly will arrive at the club on July 1st from Bournemouth on a free deal. Newcastle will reunite Kelly with Eddie Howe following their time at the Vitality Stadium together. The defender has agreed terms with Newcastle and will officially make the move once his terms with the Cherries expire at the end of the month.

July 1st is also expected to be the date that Newcastle finalise Lewis Hall’s permanent move from Chelsea. The 19-year-old enjoyed a successful spell on loan at St James’ Park last season and the club have now triggered the performance-related criteria to start the full-time switch for an initial £28 million fee.

A number of further names have been doing the rounds and while Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford remains one of the main targets in the spotlight, the Magpies are looking at other positions in their squad to strengthen. According to Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo, Newcastle are determined to cast their line out and ‘fish’ at Barcelona.

After attempting to sign former Leeds United winger Raphinha from Camp Nou last summer, the Toon are now interested in bringing in Ferran Torres and Andreas Christensen. The latter has been identified as a target who can deliver a ‘leap in defensive quality’ for Newcastle, who already tried to sign him during the winter. However, both the defender and Barca manager ‘prevented him from leaving’.

The other target, Torres, has also been subject to a bid from the Magpies. The report claims that Newcastle offered €15 million (£12.6m) plus an extra €5 million (£4.2m) in add-ons, which has been described as a ‘ridiculous’ behind the scenes at Camp Nou, considering Barcelona paid a combined £56 million to sign the winger from Manchester City in his January 2022 move.

In his first full season with Barca, Torres contributed seven goals and three assists across all competitions and has gone to better that tally in his most recent term. For 2023/24, the versatile forward who can play on either wing and in the No.9 position, notched 11 goals and four assists.

While his current Transfermarkt value of €30 million (£25.3m) is less than what Barca paid for Torres, it’s still significantly more than what Newcastle are reportedly offering for his services. The 24-year-old still has three years to run on his current contract so the Catalonians are in no real rush to cash him. What could lean in Newcastle’s favour though is that Torres only started 12 games last season and the majority of his appearances were sporadic with time on the pitch, especially after his hamstring injury towards the end of the season.