Newcastle have been heavily linked with a move for Grealish, who is set to leave the Etihad before the start of next season, with a raft of new stories linking the Magpies with the 29-year-old emerging over the weekend.
The Magpies’ recruitment team are receiving regular updates about Grealish’s position, and would consider a move for the midfielder if they felt the terms on offer were favourable. However, as things stand, there is no intention to make a formal approach to City officials.
Grealish would not fill one of the three priority positions Newcastle have identified as their key concerns this summer. The Magpies want to sign a goalkeeper, a centre-half and a right-sided attacker, and are also expected to target another centre-forward if, as looks likely, Callum Wilson rejects the club’s offer of a new deal on reduced terms.
Grealish has played in a central-attacking role in the past, and could also line up as a ‘number ten’, but the majority of his football with both Manchester City and England in the last few years has seen him stationed on the left-hand side. Newcastle are well stocked in that position, with Anthony Gordon and Harvey Barnes already battling for a place in the starting line-up.
A move for Grealish would also be further complicated by the financial practicalities of a deal. Manchester City are reportedly willing to sell Grealish this summer, but it has been suggested the hierarchy at the Etihad will demand at least £60m.
That would make a major dent in Newcastle’s budget, and while there is a good chance the Magpies will be willing to go that high for at least one deal this summer, they want to commit the vast majority of their summer funds to their priority positions. Signing Grealish would not really accomplish any of their current key aims.
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Manchester City are also understood to be willing to consider a loan deal, but that would still involve a major financial commitment. City would want a significant up-front payment in order to loan out Grealish for the season, with the midfielder’s wages also a problem for any club wanting to sign him.
Grealish is reportedly earning £300,000-a-week at the Etihad, a sum that would make him Newcastle’s highest earner by a big margin. The Magpies would not break their current wage ceiling in order to sign a loan player, and while there is a chance City could agree to fund some of Grealish’s wages while he was away from the Etihad, they would almost certainly be reluctant to help out Newcastle, who are regarded as long-term rivals for a Champions League place.
Newcastle officials expect their transfer situation to remain fluid throughout the summer, so there is a chance their position over Grealish could shift. For now, though, they will adopt a watching brief and nothing more.
They are much keener to push through a move for a right-sided attacker as quickly as possible, with Anthony Elanga and Joao Pedro currently their two leading targets unless Bryan Mbeumo pulls out of his planned move to Manchester United and suddenly becomes available.
Newcastle have made approaches for both Elanga and Pedro in the past, and there is a good chance both players could be on the move this summer. Elanga appears to be edging towards the exit door at the City Ground, while Pedro’s Brighton future is clouded in doubt, with the Seagulls close to completing the €40m signing of Greece international Charalampos Kostoulas from Olympiacos.