Newcastle United ‘turn attention’ to £50m Tottenham target as Aston Villa ‘close in’ on £30m winger

Manchester City and Burnley brought the curtain up on the new Premier League season yesterday as the reigning champions beat the Championship winners 3-0 at Turf Moor.

Newcastle United will get their campaign underway today in front of their home supporters as Aston Villa make the trip to St James’ Park for a match that has the potential to be one of the most interesting ties of the opening round. Meanwhile, the summer transfer window remains open until the end of the month so there is still plenty of time for clubs to get deals done.

The Magpies have apparently ‘turned their attention’ to a £50 million valued defender who has previously been linked with Tottenham Hotspur in the current window. Elsewhere, Aston Villa are said to be ‘closing in’ on a winger that has been linked with Newcastle. Here are the latest Newcastle United transfer news headlines on Saturday, August 12:

Newcastle United ‘turn attention’ to £50m Tottenahm target

Per a report from Team Talk, Newcastle United have turned their attention to a deal for Bayer Leverkusen defender Edmond Tapsoba after he was also linked with Tottenham Hotspur. The Bundesliga side are said to have set an asking price of £50 million for the center back and could apparently increase their demands if multiple clubs make attempts to sign him.

It is claimed that, with Newcastle now in the race, that could become the case. Tapsoba was reported to already be high on Tottenham’s wish list as they aim to sign another defender following the addition of Micky van de Ven from Wolfsburg.

Aston Villa ‘close in’ on £30m Newcastle United linked winger

According to The Express, Aston Villa are closing in on another sensational transfer after reportedly putting forward a formal bid to sign Galatasaray winger Nicolo Zaniolo. The 24-year-old had been tipped to move to Newcastle ahead of the new Premier League campaign.

The article references Italian journalist and ‘transfer guru’ Fabrizio Romano who has reported that Villa have now offered to take Zaniolo on loan with an option to buy him on a permanent basis. However, there is no agreement in place between the two sides yet, but the player is keen on the move.