Newcastle are reportedly going after late transfer deals for Wolves’ Everton target Leander Dendoncker and Chelsea midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko.
The Magpies have enjoyed a strong start to the campaign, helped by their solid summer business. Goalkeeper Nick Pope and centre-back Sven Botman have further shored up the defence after Dan Burn’s January arrival.
Meanwhile, there are great expectations on club-record signing Alexander Isak’s shoulders. Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin are in good goalscoring form, but Sweden striker Isak can offer a new dimension to the attack.
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe bolstered his midfield with former Lyon man Bruno Guimaraes in January.
And according to the latest reports, Howe is turning his focus back to midfielder deals after signing marksman Isak.
Football Insider claims that the Magpies have made an approach for Belgian midfielder Dendoncker. The 27-year-old is a versatile option as he can play in a defensive midfield role, or at centre-back.
Everton were the first Premier League club to go after Dendoncker. The Toffees have had an £8million offer rejected by Wolves but plan to up their bid before Thursday’s transfer deadline.
Nevertheless, Newcastle now supposedly fancy their chances of snapping the 29-time Belgium international up.
Dendoncker future in doubt amid Newcastle interest
His future is in doubt after Wolves paid a club-record sum for Sporting midfielder Matheus Nunes, who has slotted nicely into Bruno Lage’s Molineux plans.
Dendoncker played the full 90 minutes of Wolves’ opening two Premier League matches against Leeds and Wolves.
But after Nunes impressed in his debut – the game after against Tottenham – he has not looked back.
And that has meant Dendoncker has only come off the bench in the games since. Indeed, the Belgian played only a single minute against Newcastle last Sunday.
Wolves have started the season in poor form, picking up only two points from four games.
But Lage hopes that Nunes can continue working well with Ruben Neves, who he says is not leaving amid reported interest from Liverpool.
Newcastle, meanwhile, are still unbeaten this term, helped by Saint-Maximin’s special volley which rescued a point against Wolves.
Wolves star has decision to make
It looks as if Dendoncker suddenly has a decision to make over his future after Nunes’ arrival at Wolves.
His current lack of game time comes as a stark contrast to the start of his Wolves tenure. After properly getting into Nuno Espirito Santo’s team in January 2019 – then on a season-long loan from Anderlecht – Dendoncker did not look back.
In the 2019/20 campaign, he played in all 38 Premier League games, which included 32 starts.
That trend continued with 28 starts from 34 top-flight outings in 2020/21. Only last season were signs of change starting to appear, when Dendoncker made only 21 starts despite missing only one Premier League fixture.
What’s more, the midfielder remained an unused substitute for seven matches last season, Lage’s first at the helm.
Dendoncker’s contract runs out next summer, although Wolves do have an option to extend those terms by an extra year.
He is a player who could become the subject of increased interest – and eventually get a move – before Thursday’s deadline.