Newcastle United on verge of agreeing deal to sign Arsenal contract rebel

Newcastle United are confident of signing Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah before Monday’s transfer deadline after stepping up talks to sign the contract rebel, according to reports.

The Magpies have been looking to spend big this month in an effort to bolster their squad and avoid relegation, though so far they have only managed to secure deals for Kieran Trippier and Chris Wood.

Manager Eddie Howe is still looking to bring in as many as four new players before the window closes in three days’ time, and has now turned his attention to Nketiah.

After being rebuffed by Atalanta for Duvan Zapata, the Telegraph report that Newcastle have been quietly working on a deal for Nketiah instead and expect to land their man.

Mikel Arteta has previously insisted that the 22-year-old would not be sold and the club even rejected an enquiry from Crystal Palace earlier this month despite the striker only have six months left on his contract.

Nketiah has been unhappy with his lack of game time for some time and wants regular first-team football, while he has already made it clear he will not be signing a new contract and intends to leave on a free transfer in the summer.

That means January is Arsenal’s last opportunity to cash in on the academy graduate, though their position is hampered by the fact that Arteta is incredibly light on options in attack.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been banished from the squad and is still expected to leave the club in the coming days and Folarin Balogun was loaned out, leaving only Nketiah and Alexandre Lacazette – who is also set to leave on a free transfer in the summer.

Arsenal tried to bring in a new frontman in the January window but were frustrated in their attempts to sign Serie A topscorer Dusan Vlahovic, who has elected to join Juventus instead in a £70million deal.

But Newcastle’s offer for Nketiah is good enough that Arsenal are prepared to weaken their striking options for the remainder of the season, with the Telegraph revealing that talks are ‘progressing well’ and the striker is now expected to travel to the North East over the weekend to complete the move.

It marks a very curious end to the window for top-four chasing Arsenal, who have not brought in any new faces yet but have allowed Balogun, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Calum Chambers, Pablo Mari and now potentially Nketiah and Aubameyang to leave the club.

Newcastle, meanwhile, are also hoping to secure Brighton’s Dan Burn before the window closes and have agreed a £40m fee with Lyon for Brazilian midfielder Bruno Guimaraes – a player Arsenal had also wanted but felt was too expensive.

MORE : Arsenal receive approaches from Barcelona and Juventus for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

MORE : Dennis Bergkamp persuaded fellow Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira to sign Man Utd flop Donny van de Beek for Crystal Palace

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