Newcastle United closing in on second summer transfer as contract length and salary revealed

Newcastle sporting director Dan Ashworth has travelled to Milan in an attempt to finalise the club’s first major signing of the summer transfer window. A fee of around £60million is under discussion with the structure of the deal being assessed on Thursday.

Tonali is currently in Romania for Italy Under-21s’ UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

The 23-year-old will captain the young Italy side as the prepare to face France Under-21s in Cluj on Thursday evening. Tonali has also earned 14 caps for Italy’s senior side.

Tonali is understood to be open to leaving his boyhood club with transfer expert Fabrizio Romano claiming the young Italian’s potential six-year contract at St James’ Park will be worth around £132,500-a-week plus add-ons. This would rank him amongst the club’s highest earners as talks continue to offer Bruno Guimaraes a new and improved deal.

The defensive midfielder scored twice and assisted 10 in 48 appearances for Milan last season. His possible arrival would allow Guimaraes to be deployed further forward in his preferred ‘No. 8’ role.

Magpies head coach Eddie Howe wants to add two established central midfielders to his squad this summer in preparation for Champions League football next season. The club have also targeted Inter Milan midfielder Nicolo Barella and will push to sign James Maddison from Leicester City as an attacking-midfield option.

Newcastle have completed one signing already this summer with 18-year-old winger Yankuba Minteh for a reported £7million. The youngster will spend the 2023-24 campaign on loan at Feyenoord.