Reports: Toon Target In Medical

Dele Alli is reported to be having a medical with his next club today ahead of a sign-and-loan move that will allow him to see out the season with his promotion chasing club.  The chase for the MK Dons midfielder had  picked up significantly in the last 24 hours with Aston Villa having joined in as well as (most recently reported) Tottenham Hotspur.  There had been reports that Newcastle had agreed a £5m fee with loan back until the end of the season while Villa's offer was reported to be £2m now and the rest of whatever fee to be paid later with a loan back. It now looks as though the late interest from Spurs has been enough to beat Newcastle to the signature of the man dubbed "the next Steven Gerrard" by people who are into such things.

Lee Charnley will have to chalk this one up firmly in the loss column as Newcastle had seemed on the verge of signing the England youth international for the last week.  As time passed without update on the story, however, this result looked more and more inevitable... at least it wasn't Aston Villa, I suppose – though this one stings a little bit as youth recruitment seemed to be all we had in terms of hope for players coming in today.