Newcastle United's rivals 'keen' on Leeds United man as Arsenal 'advance' transfer pursuit

Newcastle United are preparing for the start of the new Premier League season. They finished 7th in the table in the last campaign and beat Hull City of the Championship 2-0 at the MKM Stadium in their last pre-season outing.

The Toon Army’s first game of 2024/25 is a home clash against newly promoted Southampton on Saturday 17th August. In the meantime, here is a look at some of the latest news and rumours regarding their top flight rivals…

Brighton want attacker

Brighton and Hove Albion are ‘keen’ on signing Georginio Rutter from Leeds United, according to a report by Football Insider. The Seagulls have identified the Championship attacker as a target in this window.

Rutter, who is 22-years-old, helped the Whites reach the play-off final last term but they missed out on promotion after losing at Wembley to Southampton. His long-term future with Daniel Farke’s side is now up in the air.

He has made 62 appearances in all competitions since moving to Elland Road and has scored eight goals. Prior to his transfer to England, he played in Germany for Hoffenheim.

Farke is a big fan of the Frenchman and said last season: “We got the feeling he has improved in many areas - first of all his fitness level, so that he can cover more ground, also with his tidiness with the ball and also his confidence level.

"At the beginning of the season sometimes there were tight areas and unnecessary loss of the ball, he's much tidier now and also in his positional discipline - when we ask him to play deeper he does more what we need.

"It helped him to have a tidy player like Patrick Bamford up front, who took away a bit of the attention of the centre-backs. You can have a plan but the most important thing is the player brings it on the pitch.”

Arsenal target Euro 2024 winner

Arsenal are ‘ready’ to ‘advance’ their pursuit of Real Sociedad midfielder Mikel Merino, according to 90min. The Gunners want to land the La Liga man this summer to bolster their ranks as they look to pip Manchester City to the title.

Merino, who is 28-years-old, had a spell at Newcastle from 2017 to 2018 before joining his current club. The former Osasuna and Borussia Dortmund man has since become a key player in San Sebastian and has played 242 games to date, finding the net on 27 occasions.

He was part of the Spain squad who recently won Euro 2024 in Germany. They beat England in the final in Berlin.

Manchester City boss latest

Pep Guardiola has said he would ‘love’ to stay at Manchester City beyond the end of his contract next year. His long-term future at the Etihad Stadium is up in the air.

He has said: “We will see what happens. But I will not rule it out absolutely to extend my contract. I would love to stay because I would love to stay. Nine years today in the same club is an eternity. So I want to be sure it's the right decision. Not just for me, for the club, for the players.”