The truth about Newcastle United and Xavi Simons links as Magpies eye Anthony Elanga capture.
When a move for Joao Pedro fell apart and Chelsea swooped in to end any hopes of the Brazilian ending up on Tyneside, attention turned to who would be next for Newcastle United.
Cue the usual suspects. Social media suddenly, as it so often does, became awash with team selectors, scrubbing out the name of Pedro and replacing it with a whole host of others. One name, however, was remarkably prominent. And while NUFC looked to Nottingham Forest for Anthony Elanga - one of their primary summer targets - fans turned their attentions to the continent.
The name of RB Leipzig’s Xavi Simons all of a sudden became prominent across socials. But were the Magpies ever really interested? Do they even hold one now, with the Netherlands star still looking to move on from the Bundesliga? Well, here’s the transfer truth, as NewcastleWorld understands it.
NUFC transfers: Xavi Simons linked?
While Simons is a top class operator, and it understood to want Champions League football, NewcastleWorld understands Simons has not, and does not, feature on any of Eddie Howe and his transfer team’s shortlists for this summer.
In essence, don’t believe everything you read on social media - there’s a lot of money to be made by accounts from interactions and they quite often build narratives and start rumours just to generate revenue. We’re very much living in a fake news reality across social media, and while mainstream media gets stick - and you don’t have to believe us when we say this - stories on this platform are sourced and checked thoroughly.
So, Simons is a ‘no’ for NUFC, but who else?
NUFC transfers: ITKs, myth-busting - cutting through the deal ‘noise’
ITKs across the internet have also been quick to link the Magpies to the likes of Athletic Bilbao’s Oihan Sancet, Charles De Ketelaere of Atalanta and PSG star Kang-in Lee. But, much like Simons, neither of these three are understood to have taken part in transfer conversations at Newcastle United this summer.
We know that Marc Guehi is no longer a transfer target now, following on from United’s protracted chase last summer, while Ousmane Diomande is not well thought of by transfer chiefs, despite some national newspapers claiming Newcastle are keen.
NUFC transfers: where things stand
We all hate to hear it, but it’s a waiting game. Newcastle are closing in on two deals for James Trafford and Anthony Elanga, but at the time of writing, neither deal had been fully brokered.
The Trafford fee was inexplicably increased by Burnley seven days ago, but it isn’t thought to have put an end to hopes of signing it off.
Elsewhere, Newcastle have been working away on deals on the continent, with a couple in the pipeline, both of whom are for players whose names are not yet in the public domain.
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