Newcastle United transfer targets close in on Premier League move after verbal agreement & contract agreed

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Manchester City have swooped for two of Europe’s most promising young defenders under the noses of their rivals.

On Monday, the Premier League champions confirmed the signing of RC Lens defender Abdukodir Khusanov on a four-and-a-half-year deal. The transfer fee reported is £34miilion.

Lens only paid £84,000 for Khusanov from Belarusian club Energetik-BGU 18 months ago but in his 31 appearances swiftly emerged as one of Ligue 1’s standout defenders. He becomes the first Uzbekistan international to play in the Premier League.

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New signings Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis of Manchester City during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD7 training session at Manchester City Football Academy on January 21, 2025 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)New signings Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis of Manchester City during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD7 training session at Manchester City Football Academy on January 21, 2025 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
New signings Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis of Manchester City during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD7 training session at Manchester City Football Academy on January 21, 2025 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images) | Getty Images

“I’m absolutely delighted to be joining Manchester City, a club that I have enjoyed watching for a long time,” said Khusanov. “This squad is full of the best players in the world, and I can’t wait to meet them and play alongside them.

“And of course Pep Guardiola is one of the greatest coaches ever and I am so excited to learn from him and improve my game even more. This is a very proud moment for me and my family to be joining a great club like Manchester City and I’m more than ready for this challenge.”

And if that weren’t enough, Man City are also set to sign Sierra Leonean defender Juma Bah, as broken by transfer expert Fabrizio Romano on Tuesday morning.

Eighteen-year-old Bah is on loan at Real Valladolid from AIK Freetong but a verbal agreement to take him to Manchester this month has been reached. According to Romano “the plan could include loan move to RC Lens”.

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Now comes the Newcastle United link...

You’ve probably got this far and are wondering what this might have to do with Newcastle United. Well, the link is that both aforementioned youngsters were on the Magpies’ radar.

With Premier League Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) continuing to hold back Newcastle - even forcing them to sell two young talents of their own in the summer - you can’t fault anyone on Tyneside for looking at Man City’s spending with envy.

With £64m spent so far on Khusanov and Palmeiras centre-back Vitor Reis, which will soon increase to upwards of £134million once Omar Marmoush of Eintracht Frankfurt and Bah are announced, Man City are on course to become the Premier League’s second-ever highest January spenders after Chelsea’s £281m in 2023.

Meanwhile Newcastle, despite being light on attacking options, have sanctioned Miguel Almiron’s £10m exit to Atlanta United because it makes “business sense” rather than “football sense”.

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