Newcastle United ‘considered hijack’ of Manchester United deadline day signing

Chelsea duo Conor Gallagher and Ruben Loftus-Cheek were reportedly on their radar as Jonjo Shelvey secured a move to Nottingham Forest, however, no deal for the pair could be agreed. Ultimately, the Magpies didn’t replace Shelvey with a new addition to the squad, however, the arrival of Anthony Gordon does free up other options in the centre of the park.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Newcastle did show interest in signing Bayern Munich midfielder Marcel Sabitzer towards the end of the window, however, the 28-year-old instead sealed a loan move to Manchester United until the end of the season.

As picked up by HITC, Romano said: “We also had some rumours on Newcastle because they were looking for that kind of player and they considered that kind of opportunity. But they decided also not to proceed because Sabitzer was super keen on joining Manchester United, in love with Erik ten Hag’s ideas of football, and so this is why for Sabitzer, the hijack was refused, nothing was in danger.”

The Austrian made his debut for Manchester United on Saturday, featuring for nine minutes as a late substitute as they held onto a slender 2-1 lead against Crystal Palace. The Red Devil’s were forced to do this with ten men after Casemiro was shown a red card during the match, one that will likely see him banned for their next three domestic league games - meaning his return to the first-team could come at Wembley against Newcastle United.