Newcastle United ‘end’ transfer interest in £60m man as Chelsea star ‘identified’ as alternative

Transfer Deadline Day is almost here with clubs across the Premier League and beyond having till the end of Monday to get any final January deals over the line.

Newcastle United still haven’t completed any first team additions but have seen striker Chris Wood join league rivals Nottingham Forest on loan. However, there does appear to have been a bit of activity behind the scenes at St James’ Park in the past few days and there are some major updates breaking in the biggest ongoing transfer story involving the Magpies. Here are the Newcastle United transfer news stories making the headlines on Thursday morning:

Newcastle to ‘end interest’ in transfer target after staggering £60m asking price is set

It looks like Anthony Gordon will be remaining an Everton player in this transfer window, according to the Telegraph. It is reported that Newcastle will end their interest in the English attacker after the Merseyside club refused to budge on their whopping £60 million valuation. Chelsea also appear to have dropped out of the race to land the 21-year old.

It is believed that United had been willing to pay £25 million up front with an additional £15 million in add ons, per the Northern Echo, but that would amount to just two thirds of Everton’s alleged asking price. With Chelea likely to spend the remainder of the window pushing to sign Moises Caicedo from Brighton that would give the Magpies a clear run at Gordon but that will count for nothing if the Toffees refuse to move on their valuation.

Chelsea star ‘identifed’ as potential alternative to Gordon

Newcastle may very well turn to Stamford Bridge to bring in an alternative to Gordon with the Telegraph also reporting that Hakim Ziyech is an ‘appealing alternative’ to the Everton attacker. While the deal for Gordon is not totally dead yet it may be soon due to time fast running out in the transfer window. It is believed that the club will kill off the move for the Englishman, if the asking price does not drop, to give themselves as much time as possible to get a deal for the Moroccan done.

Ziyech is said to be very much considered a ‘back up plan’ only if the Gordon move does collapse. However, the player is said to be keen on the move to the North East and the deal is described as ‘still live’ but with the ball very much in Everton’s court.