A player Newcastle lodged a bid for has now told the media he will not be joining the Magpies this summer – or any other club for that matter.
Eddie Howe’s side have already made one reinforcement in the form of Lloyd Kelly – who recently signed on a free transfer from Bournemouth.
However, it sounds like Newcastle are set to face disappointment in pursuit of another defender, as West Ham are confident of beating the Magpies to Wolves No.23 Max Kilman – and now a forward has publicly rejected a move to Tyneside…
Ferran Torres will not be joining Newcastle
Barcelona No.7 Ferran Torres has now revealed that he plans to stay in Catalonia.
It comes after Spanish news outlet Jigantes claimed that Newcastle had submitted a bid to sign the Spain international – who Barcelona signed in a £46.7m deal from Manchester City back in January 2022.
Fabrizio Romano – who also paid reference to Newcastle’s interest – relayed the comments from the Spaniard’s interview with RAC1 on X, writing: “I’ll be staying at Barcelona next season. It’s not that I just want to remain here, but rather that I’m going to stay.”
Those comments are also sure to upset Tottenham, another side who were hoping to sign Torres this summer.
Eddie Howe now has two alternatives to look at
As any smart side would, Newcastle have not simply put all of their eggs into one basket.
A story from The Athletic claims that the Magpies are also considering bids to sign West Ham No.20 Jarrod Bowen or Leeds No.10 Crysencio Summerville, both of whom represent alternatives to Torres in the attack.
It will surely be tough to prise Bowen away from West Ham, given his status as an England international playing for a top-ten Premier League side.
However, Summerville is a highly realistic target for Newcastle, with Leeds likely to sell the Dutchman to raise cash after missing out on promotion to the Premier League last season.
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Be sure to keep an eye on developments at St James’ Park – there was also interest in Michael Olise before he chose to join Bayern Munich, so Howe certainly seems determined to sign a new forward this summer.