Report: Newcastle twist with Magpies now 'one step away' from £16.8m deal

By Jordan Harris

There appears to have been a twist in Newcastle United’s pursuit of Mitchel Bakker, with Tuttomercatoweb claiming that the Magpies are one step away from a deal that had previously been written off.

Eddie Howe’s men will be hoping to add to their squad in the final week of the January transfer window. They have shown that they have got a real chance of getting themselves out of danger in the Premier League.

One of the areas that need strengthening in the coming days is in defence. And it had appeared that they had been working on a potential move for Bakker.

Bakker has provided three assists from left-back in the Bundesliga this term. But it seemed that his stay with Bayer Leverkusen may prove to be a brief one.

However, it appeared that Newcastle’s bid to sign Bakker had fallen through. The Telegraph reported on Monday afternoon that talks had broken down. And it was even claimed that the move will definitely not happen.

Reports from Italy however, would suggest that those claims may have been premature. In fact, Tuttomercatoweb report that Newcastle are now just one step away from signing Bakker.

The deal is set to cost the Magpies just under £16.8 million (€20 million). But obviously, Newcastle fans may want to see the links get stronger before they begin to believe that the 21-year-old is indeed on his way to Tyneside.

Newcastle given Bakker hope after speculation was played down

Newcastle are surely going to be busier than most in the final seven days before the deadline. They probably would have liked to have done more before this point in the month.

Missing out on Bakker would have been a real blow at this stage. And the conflicting reports will likely leave Newcastle fans feeling a little confused about what is really going on.

But perhaps, there is now reason for optimism about this deal.