Newcastle United’s chances of signing Crystal Palace’s Andros Townsend have improved as the London club are contemplating selling the winger, according to the Chronicle.
The North-East newspaper state that after initially rebuffing the Magpies’ advances towards the winger and telling Rafa Benitez’s side that they need to pay £20million for him, Palace are now open to selling him.
The Chronicle report that if Roy Hodgson’s side successfully sign West Ham winger Michail Antonio to replace Townsend then they will attempt to reopen talks with the Magpies about potentially selling them the 26-year-old.
However it is believed that Benitez would still have to pay a huge chunk of his transfer budget on getting Townsend and it’s currently unknown whether he would be willing to do that.
OPINION
This is a positive twist in the tale for the Magpies as Palace have opened the door to Townsend’s exit, however clearly any success hinges on two factors. Firstly Palace have to successfully sign Antonio from the Hammers but according to Team Talk that might be an easy task as he is seen as being no longer needed at the London Stadium. The other factor is whether Benitez is truly comfortable at blowing a lot of his transfer kitty on getting one player. This factor will cause the most problems as clearly his priority should be signing a new No.9 for the club not a winger like Townsend. The Magpies do need a new winger but they can just about manage without one if it came down to it. However it would be an exciting feel good moment for fans if Townsend, who previously dazzled at St James Park, returned to the club this summer. The 26-year-old ended his 2017/18 campaign having got nine assists in 39 outings and maybe his presence could even see forwards like Dwight Gayle scoring goals.
