Newcastle United launch ‘£17.5m’ forward bid as £50m chase ‘depends’ on crucial factor

Newcastle United return to Premier League action on Boxing Day with an intriguing clash against Leicester City. The Magpies could move up to second in the table with a victory over the Foxes, and could close the gap on league leaders Arsenal to just four points, depending on results elsewhere.

United’s recent history against Leicester has been checkered, however, with two wins and two defeats in their last four meetings. Before then, however, there is still plenty of transfer speculation to work through. Here is Thursday’s rumours roundup...

Magpies need European football for Kvaratskhelia

Newcastle United may need to qualify for the Champions League if they are to have any hope of signing Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, according to journalist Dean Jones. The Napoli star is said to be on the Magpies’ radar with The Times reporting that a bid of £50 million could be enough to secure his services.

But Jones has suggested that much could hinge on United’s European status amid widespread interest in the Georgian international. He told GIVEMESPORT: “So then when the time does come for him to actually move on, it depends what situation Newcastle are in and what profile they’ve got. If they’ve got Champions League football, if they’ve got Europa League football because he is going to have big Champions League clubs knocking on the door, and he’s already at a club that is in a very good place.”

Toon make Depay bid

As per Mundo Deportivo, Newcastle United have made an out-of-window bid of around £17.5 million to sign Memphis Depay from Barcelona. The Netherlands international is out of contract in 2023, and has been widely linked with an exit in recent weeks.

For their part, Barca would ‘favour’ selling the forward in January, the report claims that Depay himself would ‘prefer’ to wait until the summer to decide his future – potentially dealing a blow to the Magpies’ hopes of landing him.