Newcastle United and Man City ‘ready’ bid for Spanish star as former Magpie set for Messi meeting

Newcastle United are reportedly ready to activate a clause to move a step closer to a deal for Celta Vigo star Gabri Veiga.

However, the Magpies will face competition from treble-chasing Manchester City after they also signalled their intention to meet the £34.4m fee that would allow them to discuss a move for the youngster after they made several visits to the La Liga club to assess his development throughout the season.

The 21-year-old has enjoyed the most progressive season of his career so far after scoring 11 goals and providing four assists in 39 appearances in all competitions for Celta and he rounded off the campaign in style by scoring both goals in a 2-1 home win against Barcelona last weekend.

However, Celta president Carlos Maurino has already warned that any departure will come at a major cost for any willing suitor.

He told Cadena Sur: “We have always said from the beginning that no-one has to negotiate with us because we are not going to sell. We know those who called at the beginning. They have already spoken with him, he is the one who has the decision… there we already get lost.

“I can assure you that teams from Italy, from England, from France (come) to us directly. We have to situate ourselves where we are at RC Celta and because we are having a lot of success with youth players. You have to achieve that with some kind of compensation for the boys. I can’t put a 100 million clause on you, I’m going to pay a smaller token.

“But don’t go to another team. I put a clause that we both agree on and if you see that you have the possibility and you succeed, you have the facility to take a big leap without anyone messing with you.”

Italian outlet CalcioNapoli24 have now stated Newcastle and City have already ‘expressed their intention’ to meet the £34.4million clause in Veiga’s contract and hand him an opportunity to move to the Premier League after monitoring his progress with Celta over the last six months. Liverpool and Napoli have also expressed an interest in the youngster, who is said to favour a move to Real Madrid - but that now seems unlikely as England star Jude Bellingham is set to move to the Bernabeu in a deal that could be worth over £100million.

Former Magpies star set to line up alongside Messi

The man many consider to be the greatest player of all-time is set to become a team-mate of a former Newcastle United star after Lionel Messi confirmed he will join MLS side Inter Miami when his Paris Saint-Germain contract comes to an end later this month.

After weeks of speculation linking the Argentina star with a move to former club Barcelona and to a number of Saudi Arabian clubs, Messi revealed the next step in his glittering career will take him stateside.

Confirming the move in an interview with Spanish outlets Marca and Diario Sport, Messi said: “I’ve taken the decision that I am going to Miami. (I decided) to leave Europe.

“It’s true that I had offers from another European team but I didn’t even think about it because in Europe, my idea was only to go to Barcelona. After winning the World Cup and not being able to go to Barca, it’s time to go to MLS to live football in a different way and enjoy my day to day life more. Obviously with the same responsibility and desire to win, and to do things well, but with more calm.”

Messi joins an Inter Miami side currently sat at the bottom of the MLS Eastern Conference table after they collected just 15 points from their opening 16 games of the season. The Fort Lauderdale-based outfit parted company with former Manchester United and England star Phil Neville last week and he has been replaced by assistant Javier Morales on an interim basis.

Among Messi’s new team-mates are former Magpies defender DeAndre Yedlin and Venezuelan striker Josef Martinez, who formed a deadly partnership with current Magpie Miguel Almiron during their time at Atlanta United.