Over the past week, we’ve seen various reports suggest we are finally set to make a breakthrough on the transfer front.
Fabrizio Romano had insisted that our move for James Trafford was ‘advancing’ and would be agreed ‘very soon’, while there were big claims on Thursday night regarding our bid to sign Anthony Elanga.
The Mail’s Craig Hope said we were ‘on the verge’ of agreeing a deal worth £55m, while The Times’ Martin Hardy even claimed that the offer had been accepted, with an approach for Atalanta’s Giorgi Scalvini then reported by Romano on Saturday afternoon.
This morning, The Telegraph’s Luke Edwards has issued an update, and it’s not exactly the ‘news’ we were all hoping to read while making our Sunday morning teas or coffees.
He reports that we are ‘still finding it tough to get deals over the line’, suggesting deals for Trafford and Elanga are proving tricky to complete. Edwards confirms our interest in Scalvini, but adds that there are a number of clubs competing for the Italian centre-back.
In a post on X just moments ago, he said:
‘Newcastle are still finding it tough to get deals over the line and progress is slow. It’s not anybody’s fault as such, it’s just hard work at the moment. Interest in Elanga and Trafford ongoing.
‘As I said last month, they like Scalvini at Atalanta but there is a lot of competition. Everyone wants a breakthrough but try to stay calm.’
Slow progress was a theme in June, as we saw other clubs beat us to a number of reported targets, but it had seemed like deals for Burnley’s Trafford and Nottingham Forest’s Elanga were finally close.
That may change soon and he does encourage fans to stay calm, hinting that patience could soon pay off. However, with pre-season training resuming tomorrow, we could really do with a breakthrough soon.
The longer we take to wrap up deals for Trafford or Elanga, the more chance there is of rival bids and increased desperation that could play into the selling clubs’ hands.