Eddie Howe confirms Newcastle United transfer interest as £35m star set for medical

Eddie Howe has confirmed his interest in Southampton full-back Tino Livramento — as a £35million transfer edges closer.

The Magpies struck an agreement with the South Coast outfit on Thursday with the England under-21s due on Tyneside for a medical.

United hope to finalise his arrival in time for the player to feature at this weekend’s Sela Cup, which sees Howe’s men take on Fiorentina and Villarreal ahead of next weekend’s Premier League opener against Aston Villa,

Howe refused to announce a deal was close but did reveal his admiration for the 21-year-old.

“I’m slightly in the dark on that, unfortunately,” said the Newcastle head coach. “Let’s see what happens in the next couple of days. Certainly, I like the player.”

With Livramento set to join - following Sandro Tonali and Harvey Barnes to St James’ Park - Howe is hoping to add at least one more player to his ranks before the summer window shuts on September 1.

“We don’t want to carry a huge squad, we want everyone in the squad to feel like they have a part to play,” said Howe.

“Certainly, we have various competitions that we’re involved in so we need to be robust enough to deal with that challenge. Let’s see what happens. Maximum [I want] a couple of players but let’s wait and see.

“Ideally I’d love to bring in two players but let’s wait and see, there’s no guarantees.”