Newcastle United head coach Matthias Jaissle during the weekend win over Tottenham (Image: John Walton/PA Wire)
Newcastle United head coach Matthias Jaissle during the weekend win over Tottenham (Image: John Walton/PA Wire)
NEWCASTLE UNITED are confident of completing the signing of Matias Fernandez-Pardo ahead of tomorrow night’s transfer deadline – with the capture of the Belgium international set to pave the way for Nick Woltemade to join Juventus on loan.
After a series of unsuccessful attempts to seal a deal for Fernandez-Pardo, a fresh round of negotiations with Lille officials finally resulted in a breakthrough earlier today.
Newcastle have agreed to pay an initial fee of €60m (£51.5m) for the 21-year-old forward, with an additional series of add-ons also forming part of the deal.
Fernandez-Pardo is due to travel to England later today, with a medical planned for tomorrow morning. Provided there are no unforeseen issues, Newcastle officials are confident of being able to complete a deal well ahead of tomorrow’s 11pm transfer deadline.
The personal terms of the proposed transfer are already understood to have been agreed, with Fernandez-Pardo having expressed a strong desire to move to Tyneside and spend the next stage of his career in the Premier League.
Born in Brussels, Fernandez-Pardo spent time in the youth set-up at French club Lille before returning to his homeland to sign his first professional terms with Gent.
He made his senior debut with the Belgian club in March 2023 at the age of 18, before returning to Lille in a €10m deal in the summer of 2024.
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He has made 71 senior appearances with Lille, scoring 12 goals, and while he briefly spent time in Spain’s Under-21s set-up, he pledged his international allegiance to Belgium this summer, securing a call-up to the Belgian World Cup squad.
A versatile wide-attacker, who can also play as a central striker, Fernandez-Pardo has been at the top of Newcastle’s attacking wanted list for the majority of the summer. Magpies officials also held talks with Stuttgart over a possible move for Bilal El Khannouss, but Fernandez-Pardo was always their preferred option as they looked to strengthen their attacking ranks.
Provided the deal for Fernandez-Pardo goes through as planned, Newcastle will sanction Woltemade’s loan departure, with Juventus currently at the front of a lengthy queue of clubs hoping to secure his services.
The future of the Magpies’ club-record signing has been the subject of significant speculation in the last few weeks, with Napoli having been the first club to make a formal approach for his services.
Juventus followed up with an offer of their own over the weekend, with Woltemade now looking likely to head to Turin. The deal is set to be a straight season-long loan, with the Newcastle hierarchy hoping that a season in Serie A will help Woltemade reignite a career that has stalled since he completed a £69m move to Tyneside from Stuttgart last summer.
Woltemade has not started either of the Magpies’ Premier League matches so far this season, although he did come off the bench to set up Yoane Wissa’s goal in Saturday’s 2-0 win at Tottenham.
Matthias Jaissle has refused to say too much publicly about the 24-year-old’s future, but it is clear that Woltemade is not really an ideal fit for the high-tempo, high-pressing ‘vertical football’ Newcastle’s new boss is trying to develop.
If everyone is fit, Woltemade is likely to find himself on the substitutes’ bench for much of this season, a situation that does not really suit anyone. Woltemade’s development could be stunted if he is not playing regular football, while his status as Newcastle’s record signing means Jaissle will find himself facing a barrage of questions over the forward every time he omits him from his starting line-up.
Juventus expect to lose Jonathan David before tomorrow’s transfer deadline, with the Canada international seemingly set for Atletico Madrid. Manchester United’s Joshua Zirkzee has been discussed as a possible replacement, but Juventus’ preference is to seal a deal for Woltemade.
Nottingham Forest have made an attempt to sign Jacob Murphy, but Jaissle does not want to lose the Newcastle United winger’s experience and leadership as he sets about guiding his new-look squad through his first season on Tyneside.
Forest officials have made contact with the St James’ Park hierarchy to confirm their interest in Murphy and attempt to initiate discussions over a possible transfer.
However, Jaissle is understood to be pushing hard to keep Murphy, who was handed a key role within Newcastle’s now disbanded leadership group under Eddie Howe.
Howe valued Murphy’s leadership qualities, and Jaissle also sees the 31-year-old as an important figure in the wake of so many senior departures since the end of last season.
Murphy has not started either of Newcastle’s league matches so far this term, but he wore the captain’s armband at points during pre-season and was a starter in last week’s Carabao Cup win over West Brom.