St James's Park, the home of Newcastle United Football Club.  (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)St James's Park, the home of Newcastle United Football Club.  (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
St James's Park, the home of Newcastle United Football Club. (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Newcastle United transfer rumours: Magpies 'pushing ahead' with plans to seal £16m deal for former academy star

A quick glance at the Championship goalscoring charts and you’ll see two former Newcastle United strikers at the top of it.

First is Brentford's Ivan Toney, sold by the Magpies in 2018, second is Teemu Pukki of Norwich City and third is Geordie-born Adam Armstrong, now at Blackburn Rovers.

The progression of Toney and Armstrong certainly raises the question of ‘what if’ on Tyneside. Toney, last month, was even linked with a surprise return.

Now, Armstrong is also touted with moving back to St James’s Park, three years after he was offloaded to Ewood Park.

As per TEAMTalk, the Magpies are planning to push ahead with a deal to bring the former England under-21s to Tyneside – regardless of whether they are relegated or not.

Steve Bruce’s side have the advantage over clubs reportedly chasing his signature – West Ham and Southampton – after inserting a 40% sell-on when he sold to Rovers for £1.75million.

Apparently, that sell-on clause can be “written off as part of the deal” for Armstrong, who they said is valued at around £16million.

The 24-year-old has scored 19 times in 33 Championship appearances this season, averaging a goal every 150 minutes.

Here are the latest headlines surrounding Newcastle and their Premier League rivals: