‘Door open’ for Newcastle United to sign West Ham target, Everton hold ‘great interest’ in £17m Toon target

Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United squad for next season continues to take shape, with the Magpies already wrapping up a number of deals in the summer transfer market.

There’s no sign that the Toon Army are done just yet, however, and with several irons in the fire for new attacking additions, speculation is rife on Tyneside.

With that in mind, here are Tuesday’s Newcastle-related transfer rumours...

Romano outlines Toon targets

Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has named Moussa Diaby and Duvan Zapata as two of Newcastle’s priority transfer targets this summer.

The Magpies are eager to recruit attacking reinforcements in the coming weeks, but have so far been frustrated in their pursuits of a number of linked players.

Addressing the current state of play on Tyneside in a column for Caught Offside, Romano said: “Newcastle fans will no doubt be desperate to hear some transfer updates, but the club prefer to keep their top targets secret all the way.

“What I can say is that one of the popular names into the board is Moussa Diaby, but not on the terms of Bayer Leverkusen; for this reason, the negotiations have been stalled for weeks.

“Duvan Zapata has been on the club’s list since January but Atalanta have not yet received an official offer.

“There was previously interest in Hugo Ekitike and Armando Broja, so I’d expect a new signing up front will be high on the Magpies’ agenda, but we’ll see.”

Toon could hijack Broja deal

Newcastle could still look to beat West Ham to the signing of Chelsea forward Armando Broja this summer.

The promising striker has been heavily linked with the Hammers in recent weeks, with The Guardian reporting that David Moyes’ side have submitted a bid in the region of £30 million in an attempt to secure his services, while Everton are also understood to be monitoring his situation.

According to a report from iNews, however, Chelsea would prefer to send the 20-year-old out on loan next season, a move which could potentially “open the door” for the Toon Army to steal a march on the Irons, who would rather wrap up a permanent transfer.

Magpies losing out in Todibo race

Everton are reportedly beating Newcastle in the race to sign French defender Jean-Clair Todibo, with Manchester United also in the competition for the OGC Nice star.

According to reports in France, the Toffees hold “great interest” in the 22-year-old, who has previously been linked with a move to Tyneside.

The player is said to be valued at around £17 million, although it remains to be seen whether the Toffees would be willing to match that asking price given his recent injury record.