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Newcastle United are still facing heavyweight competition from Chelsea for Brighton & Hove Albion attacker Joao Pedro.
The Brazilian is a wanted man this summer and Eddie Howe is keen to add him to his attacking arsenal at St James’ Park.
Newcastle are working hard to agree a fee with Brighton, but have not hit the Seagulls’ £60m asking price for the attacker.
They are keen to get the deal done, but Chelsea are looming in the background as a real threat to that aim.
Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, replying to why a timeline of days or weeks was put on Chelsea moving for Pedro, said on X: “because depends on Brighton…but I can guarantee to you once again that Chelsea are still there for Joao Pedro.”
Moving to Chelsea could be an attractive proposition for Pedro, with living in the capital and playing for one of the country’s most successful clubs over the last 20 years a real draw.
The Blues are also in the Champions League next season and they won the Conference League last term.
Newcastle may have to really hit the accelerator to try and get a deal done before Chelsea make their interest concrete.
Player Years Total appearances
Jimmy Lawrence 1904–1922 496
Frank Hudspeth 1910–1929 472
Shay Given 1997–2009 463
Frank Clark 1962–1975 457
Bill McCracken 1904–1923 432
It has been suggested though that if Newcastle do not make progress by the end of next week then they could move on to other targets.
Pedro is one of three signings that Newcastle have been aiming to do.
They want Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford to come and slot in as their new number 1, while they are also trying to land Nottingham Forest winger Anthony Elanga.
Chelsea currently have one Brazilian in the squad in the shape of Andrey Santos, while Newcastle have Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton.