Newcastle United is on the verge of completing a deal with Leicester City to secure the services of winger Harvey Barnes for a fee “in the region of £38m” according to David Ornstein of The Athletic.
After days of rumors all pointing toward a successful conclusion, dreams and whispers are finally becoming a reality after NUFC and LCFC reached a deal for the move of Barnes to Tyneside ahead of next season for a fee of nearly £40m.
Ornstein, breaking the news for The Athletic, added that “personal terms are not expected to be an issue,” so you can pencil Barnes in as the second arrival of the summer following the signing of Sandro Tonali from AC Milan.
Barnes will soon be donning the black and white stripes of Eddie Howe’s side, and the only thing delaying the reaching of an agreement and the announcement is probably the sale of Allan Saint-Maximin, seemingly on his way to Saudi Arabia side Al-Hilal.
Leicester City’s decision to part ways with Barnes comes as part of their effort to streamline the wage bill following their relegation to the Championship, and Barnes’ sale follows the departure of James Maddison a few days ago as the offensive midfielder moved to Tottenham for £40m.
On top of Maddison and Barnes, Leicester City waved goodbye to all of Youri Tielemans, Ayoze Perez, Caglar Soyuncu, Nampalys Mendy, Daniel Amartey, and Ryan Bertrand, though all of those left the club as free agents earning no money to their former club.
Newcastle United’s forthcoming acquisition of Harvey Barnes signals their determination to secure top talent and revitalize their squad, both adding much-needed depth to it and also making up for the departure of ASM, the latter almost forced by FFP constraints.
As the deal nears its completion, fans will have to wait a bit longer to watch Barnes play for Newcastle as the squad embarked on a trip to the USA and won’t be back at St James’ Park until August.
Leave a Reply