Newcastle rival Spurs in chase for West Brom star’s signature
Published:
The recruitment drive Steve McClaren has engineered since arriving at Newcastle shows no signs of slowing down, as the former England boss targets yet another big-money signing in the summer transfer window.
Newspaper reports on Sunday morning suggest the Magpies will look to rival Tottenham Hotspur in the pursuit of in-demand West Brom striker Saido Berahino.
McClaren has already persuaded the usually-frugal Mike Ashley to sign off on deals for Georginio Wijnaldum, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Chancel Mbemba, but seemingly isn’t satisfied with those acquisitions.
Although Mitrovic has arrived from Anderlecht to support Papiss Cisse and Ayoze Perez up front, Newcastle clearly believe another front man needs to be added to their squad.
That much is evident from the continued links with QPR goal-getter Charlie Austin, but in pursuing Berahino the north-east outfit are able to keep their options open.
Spurs have been thought to be in the driving seat to land the Burundi-born striker, but have only ever been linked with a £15m bid for the Baggies ace.
The Sunday Express indicate that Newcastle will trump that with an offer of £20m, hoping to steal a march on the Lilywhites by showing more willing to splash the cash.
Should they be successful, McClaren will be under immense pressure to deliver an improved season at St James’ Park, such is the weight of his spending this summer.
Wijnaldum was bought from PSV for £14.5m, while Mitrovic cost £13m. Another big-money capture would leave Magpies fans expecting a top-half finish at the very least, if they weren’t already.
Ladbrokes make that a 5/2 possibility with just under a week to go until the campaign kicks off, with Newcastle opening their season with a home game against Southampton.
McClaren is given a 2/1 chance of opening his Newcastle account at the first attempt, with the Saints rated as 11/8 favourites and the draw 23/10.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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