Transfer Rumor Roundup: July 10, 2018

The lads have returned to training, and Rafa is back in the office. Naturally, means that the transfer rumors are swirling, because Lee Charnley is not competent enough to get deals done before July, so lets take a look at these rumors.

Kenedy

The Kenedy deal is rumored to be finished. The Brazilian winger was spotted yesterday on a train to Newcastle by Pete Graves of Sky Sports, as he was reporting to Newcastle for a medical.

The deal is rumored to be announced sometime today, and many Newcastle fans are rejoicing as they seem to think this is the deal that will spark a slew of transfers for the club.

Not much is known about deal besides the fact that it is a season long loan. Luke Edwards of The Telegraph is the only reporter so far who seems confident that this could be a loan to buy deal. If so, that would be wonderful news for the club and likely mean that the transfer record would be broken for the young winger.

What should have fans excited is that Newcastle could possibly looking to do more business with Chelsea. The Chronicle published a story earlier in the month about how Ruben Loftus-Cheek was unhappy at Chelsea and is a target of Benetiz. The only hiccup is that a deal for Loftus Cheek would likely be a loan deal, and Premier League teams are not allowed to loan in 2 players from the same club. They would have to purchase a Chelsea player if they intend on doing more business with he club, and that is not something I have a lot of faith that the club can do.

Mikel Merino

Mikel Merino should be on his way out according the The Chronicle. Chris Waugh reports that Real Sociedad are set to activate his £10million release clause by the end of this week.

The Midfielder has reportedly already informed the club that he will be joining Sociedad, and the team have already signed his replacement in Ki.

Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images

We here at CHN wish Merino well, but we do think that his motivation for leaving the club is somewhat unwarranted and something that is not surprising when you consider how he got to Newcastle in the first place.

Salomon Rondon

Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

The most interesting saga of the past week for Newcastle supporters has been how the club plans to sign quality striker while simultaneously not paying the market value price for a quality striker. This has mainly involved Nice Striker Alassane Plea, who is valued at £27million and Newcastle, along with Borussia Monchengladbach have submitted offers of £20million respectively.

This has reportedly caused Newcastle to explore other options, one of which being West Brom Striker Salomon Rondon. Rondon, like the rest of the current crop of Newcastle Strikers has never scored over 10 goals in a Premier League campaign. You could blame that unimpressive stats on the player, or West Brom’s defensive minded tactics or the lack of a quality manager to help him adapt his play style to the Premier League. Nonetheless, he seems to be a target, and likely a project for Rafa Benetiz.

The forward is often praised for his work rate, and his ability to get involved in aspects out of the game outside of scoring goals. The apparent offer Newcastle are coming to West Brom with is £16.5million. Whether this is enough to land the striker is not known, but with Newcastle being the only club linked to move for him I would imagine the recently relegated West Brom will take whatever they can for him.

Andros Townsend

The Chrystal Palace winger has been linked to return to Newcastle for the past year and a half. The latest rumors suggest Newcastle are planning on paying £17million for the winger, and selling Matt Ritchie to Stoke City to cover the costs.

The English winger is a fan favorite as he was a remarkable addition to the squad as they battled to avoid relegation in 2016. Since then, the winger has been a key reason for Chrystal Palace’s Premier League survival.

Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Fans are certainly excited to see how well Townsend plays when being groomed by a world class manager such as Rafa Benetiz. If all goes well, we all will find out soon just how good the winger could be.

Oleksandr Zinchenko

The most intriguing rumors often hail from the least reliable sources, and that us certainly the case with this link.

In the excitement of the News about Kenedy yesterday, a rumor of Newcastle being linked with Man City starlet Oleksandr Zinchenko flew underneath the radar.

The link comes from Tim Nash, a freelance journalist who covers Wolves. The fact that this rumor came from a journalist covering Wolves is most certainly the reason this flew under the radar. Nash, seems like a credible source, but is the only one who is reporting of Newcastle interest in the 21 year old Ukrainian.

What is really interesting about this link is that Zinchenko could address a number of needs for Newcastle as he plays nearly all the positions we need to improve. When first hearing the rumor, I was a bit concerned as Zichenko was primarily used as a Left Wing Back this season with Man City, a position that does not fit within Rafa’s system.

However, my concerns were subdued thanks to one of our loyal followers on twitter, who quickly pointed out that the 21 year old has also played Left Back and CAM, 2 positions that could use some improvement.

This of course is a rumor that fans should take with a grain of salt. The source is not one who has been reliable for Newcastle news, the link has appeared out of thin air, and Wolves have already sent in a bid that was reportedly accepted for the lad.

Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Be sure to check back in as the summer goes on, we can only hope that Newcastle continue to progress with transfer business. The moment progress halts, the moment this season is doomed.