Newcastle have made an approach to sign Crystal Palace forward Andros Townsend for a second time, according to the Guardian.
The newspaper claim the north-east giants are keen to re-sign Townsend and have indicated to the Londoners they are willing to spend £20million to land him this summer.
The Guardian report that even a sum that would smash Newcastle’s transfer record by £4million might not be enough to re-sign the 26-year-old, who joined Palace from the Magpies in the summer of 2016 for £13million.
OPINION
Townsend is a fine player capable of cutting defences to shreds when he is at the very top of his game. But the winger goes missing in action far too often to be considered a worthy gilt-edged investment. It is likely he has been targeted because Rafael Benitez and the recruitment team believe they can get enough top performances out of him in a season to justify a mega fee. Indeed, he had a decent campaign for Palace in 2017-18 – two goals and nine assists from 39 matches in all competitions – but those numbers are far from jawdropping. It is the story of the Tottenham academy product’s career. He can look very good for a game or two, and deliver some eyecatching moments, before disappearing completely from view. How Newcastle must wish they could afford Townsend’s teammate Wilfried Zaha, the real Palace dangerman who almost singlehandedly kept them in the Premier League.
