Newcastle accelerating talks to sign star De Zerbi publicly requested at Tottenham

With around two weeks to go until the Premier League campaign gets underway, Newcastle United’s transfer attempts continue to suffer one tragic blow after another.

The Magpies have been stripped of talent, from their midfield all the way to the dugout. They’re set to enter the new season with no Bruno Guimares, no Sandro Tonali, no Anthony Gordon and, worst of all, no Eddie Howe.

The usual caveat to those departures would be the arrival of reinforcements. Newcastle, however, have missed out on several top targets yet again.

They watched Johan Manzambi choose Aston Villa, Victor Munoz choose Liverpool and, most recently, faced rejection from Pierre Emile Hojbjerg in another cruel blow.

Those at St James’ Park were reportedly advancing talks to sign the Marseille midfielder, before he had a last-minute change of heart and rejected a move to Tyneside.

REUTERS/Alexandre Dimou

Now back at the drawing board, Newcastle have been forced to shift their focus towards Joao Palhinha. This time, it’s the Magpies who will have to do the hijacking as they look to sign the Bayern Munich midfielder ahead of Aston Villa.

If it’s not going to be Hojbjerg, then Palhinha at least makes perfect sense. Under a manager who values winning the ball back quickly in Matthias Jaissle, targeting one of the best tacklers in the Premier League last season is not a bad idea. Whether Newcastle can jump ahead of Aston Villa is the big question.

Newcastle accelerating talks to sign Palhinha

REUTERS/Andrew Couldridge

The former Premier League ace has instantly found himself on PIF’s radar following Hojbjerg’s surprising decision. Football FanCast sources understand that Newcastle are now accelerating talks to sign Palhinha after missing out on the Marseille man, but still face serious competition from Aston Villa.

The Tyneside club initially sought Palhinha out at the same time as Hojbjerg, but made it clear that their priority was the former Southampton man. Now, they’re looking towards the Portuguese as the perfect alternative, stepping up their pursuit.

Aston Villa could, of course, still complicate things. The Villans are in advanced talks to sign Palhinha, themselves, and another missed target would leave Newcastle scrambling yet again.

What’s more, the duo aren’t the only Premier League sides to have shown interest in the 31-year-old. Tottenham manager Roberto De Zerbi publicly admitted his desire to keep Palhinha when asked about turning his loan spell permanent this summer.

Spurs have since pulled away from the deal, but it’s clear that Palhinha has been a man in-demand since the very start of the summer transfer window.