Newcastle officials had an interest in Garcia, who has a €25m release clause in his current contract at Espanyol, but while the Spanish media claimed the Magpies were briefly in pole position to sign the 24-year-old, the belief within the St James’ hierarchy was that he was always destined for Barcelona.
Sure enough, the La Liga champions are now set to complete a deal for Garcia ahead of the start of the Club World Cup in the United States later this month.
Signing a new goalkeeper is one of Newcastle’s three key priorities this summer along with the acquisition of a central defender and a right-sided attacker. John Ruddy and Mark Gillespie are both due to reach the end of their respective contracts this month, while there are also major doubts over the futures of Martin Dubravka and Odysseas Vlachodimos.
Trafford has long been regarded as Newcastle’s preferred option, with the Magpies having failed in a number of previous attempts to prise the England international from Burnley.
Newcastle lodged a series of bids for Trafford last summer – the last of which is understood to have involved a total package worth around £20m – but they were all rejected by the hierarchy at Turf Moor.
Since then, Trafford performed superbly as Burnley won promotion back to the Premier League, conceding just 16 goals in 46 league matches and winning a host of plaudits for his performances in the Championship.
He is contracted to the Clarets to the summer of 2027, and Burnley boss Scott Parker is adamant that he does not want to lose one of his star performers ahead of his side’s return to the top-flight.
However, while negotiations could prove difficult, Newcastle’s recruitment team are confident they can broker a deal that will see Trafford move to the North-East.
The former England Under-21 international is understood to be keen on a move to Tyneside, where he would compete with Nick Pope for Newcastle’s number one spot. While Pope has proved himself as an excellent shot-stopper, his distribution with the ball at his feet is one of the weaker elements of his game.
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Trafford is regarded as superior in that department, and would hope to force his way into Thomas Tuchel’s senior England squad if he was able to establish himself as Newcastle’s number one goalkeeper next season.
While Burnley will inevitably dig their heels in, Newcastle would hope to agree a deal for around £30m that would enable them to kickstart their summer recruitment drive in the next few weeks.
Liverpool’s Caoimhin Kelleher is regarded as a strong alternative, and the Reds’ back-up goalkeeper would almost certainly be cheaper to sign than Trafford. However, at this stage, Trafford remains the preferred option, with senior Newcastle sources adamant that the impending departure of both sporting director Paul Mitchell and chief executive Darren Eales will not negatively affect the club’s transfer business this summer.
Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi is a long-standing target at centre-half, with the England international about to enter the final year of his current deal at Selhurst Park and seemingly unwilling to sign a new contract with the Eagles.
Tottenham have also been linked with Guehi in the last few days though, with Spurs officials reportedly lining up potential replacements for Cristian Romero, who is the subject of strong interest from Atletico Madrid.
Bryan Mbeumo is a leading Newcastle target in the wide-attacking position on the right, with Brentford boss Thomas Frank having conceded that his club face a huge battle to hold on to the 25-year-old, who has also been heavily linked with Manchester United.