Newcastle United had shown an interest in Premier League starlet Steven Alzate and are now targeting a late-window deal for Rangers ace Glen Kamara, as reported by the Chronicle and TEAMtalk.
While Aston Villa, Leicester City, Crystal Palace and more have dug deep and spent big in order to reinforce their squads – hell, even Norwich City have splashed out more than £50 million – this has been another summer of stasis at St James’ Park.
Steve Bruce was hoping for a ball-playing centre-half, a dynamic defensive midfielder and a creative number ten – regardless of whether Joe Willock returned or not.
With just six days to go before the shutters come down, there is a real chance that Willock, last season’s talismanic, match-winning loan star, will be the only ‘new’ addition to Bruce’s rather long-in-the-tooth squad.
According to the Chronicle, there was some interest in Alzate, the classy Colombian whose neat and tidy, pretty-passing style has earned him the admiration of Brighton and Hove Albion coach Graham Potter.
Alzate has an eye for goal too – it was his strike that secured a famous win for the Seagulls during their trip to reigning Premier League champions Liverpool in February.
That, however, appears to have fallen by the wayside.
Will Newcastle get a new midfielder before it’s too late?
TEAMtalk claims that Finland international Glen Kamara is one of Bruce’s top targets heading towards next week’s deadline.
But given that Newcastle are operating on the tightest of budgets – short-term loan deals may once again be the order of the day – no one on Tyneside should be holding their breath.
The Mail believe that Rangers want at least £10 million for Kamara, a criminally underrated part of Rangers’ Premiership-winning squad.
Marseille-based namesake Boubacar Kamara would command a similar fee, despite rejecting a new contract at the Ligue 1 giants.
At this stage, a more likely option could be Leicester City’s Hamza Choudhury or Chelsea’s Ethan Ampadu, both of whom may be granted a loan switch.
