Having seen the likes of Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali leave this summer, [Newcastle United](https://readnewcastle.com/2026/08/25/jamie-carragher-fantastic-claim-newcastle-united-boss-matthias-jaissle/) need to strengthen their midfield department. Now, to be fair, some additions have already been made there.
Sean Steur was brought in from Ajax. Aladji Bamba joined from AS Monaco. But both of them had played a combined 50 senior games of football before joining Newcastle United.
Ideally, you would want those players to slowly come into the fold of things. For that to be the case, the Magpies needed a more first-team-ready midfielder. And it looks like that is now set to be sorted.
According to [David Ornstein](https://x.com/David_Ornstein/status/2092275484499308862), Newcastle United have reached an agreement with Manchester City to sign Nico Gonzalez. The deal for the midfielder is worth a total of £52 million, comprising a £48 million fixed fee and £4 million in add-ons. The Spaniard has been granted permission to take a medical and complete his move to St James’ Park.
Ornstein is arguably the most reliable journalist in football right now. So, this move should now be considered as good as done. Barring any last-minute twist, expect to see Gonzalez in a Newcastle United shirt very soon.
Of course, this move should go a long way in sorting the issues that the Magpies have in midfield right now. As mentoned, both Guimaraes and Tonali have left this summer.
That is not to say that Gonzalez is at the level yet. But perhaps he can be at some point if his development goes well. But at the same time, he is already good enough to be starting, which some of the other youngsters that have been signed might not be.
Gonzalez has always been a very highly rated player. But so far, he has not enjoyed the meteoric rise that would have been expected of him while coming through the La Masia ranks.
Gonzalez played senior football at Barcelona for a few years before joining FC Porto. He was good enough in Portugal to convince Manchester City to spend north of £50 million to sign him.
It did not exactly go according to plan at Man City. To be fair, he did play almost 60 games over a season-and-a-half, which is not easy to do. So, Gonzalez was involved for sure.
But at no point did it feel that he was an integral part of the Man City unit. That feeling is backed up by the fact that the club have now agreed to let him go less than two years after signing him, in lieu of recouping the transfer fee they paid for him.