Newcastle United target loan deal for World Cup star as Arsenal and Man United show interest

Newcastle United are said to remain keen on securing a loan deal for Chelsea star Christian Pulisic.

The Daily Mail have reported Pulisic has considerable interest ahead of the January transfer window as he continues to be a bit-part player at Stamford Bridge. The winger has made just five starts in all competitions so far this season and appeared as a half-time substitute in Chelsea’s recent 1-0 defeat at St James Park.

The United States international will enter the final 18 months of his current deal in January and Manchester United, Newcastle, and Arsenal are said to be ‘monitoring’ his situation. The report states all three clubs are preparing bids to take Pulisic on loan and hand him a chance to impress away from Stamford Bridge.

Serie A giants AC Milan, Inter and Juventus have also been linked with the winger, who impressed in the United States’ goalless draw with England on Friday night. His side will hope to progress into the World Cup Finals knockout stages with a win against Iran on Tuesday, and Pulisic has admitted there is still plenty of work to do, despite putting in a fine performance against Gareth Southgate’s side.

He said: “We have a lot of work left to do. Everyone back home watching us against England, I hope we made a lot of people proud, but the job isn’t even close to done, so we’ve got a lot of work left to do.”

Contract talks planned as former Magpies star is linked with Premier League return

Real Sociedad are reportedly set to bring forward contract talks with former Newcastle United star Mikel Merino.

The Spain midfielder has become a key figure with the Basque club after moving back to Spain in the summer of 2018 and is said to have attracted interest from Manchester City and Aston Villa in recent weeks. It is the latter that have been strongly linked with a move as Unai Emery looks to put his own print on the squad he inherited from former Villa manager Steven Gerrard.

However, Spanish news outlet Mundo Deportivo have claimed Sociedad have abandoned planned talks over a new deal for Merino and want to open discussions as soon as possible.