Fulham are willing to pay £16million for Aleksandar Mitrovic but Newcastle United want their Premier League rivals to spend £18million on him, according to Sky Sports.
The broadcaster claim that while the two Premier League sides are currently £2million apart in their valuation of the forward, talks are set to continue.
Sky Sports report that Mitrovic is due to return from his holidays on Tuesday and as it stands will report to the Magpies for pre-season training on Wednesday.
OPINION
Hopefully for both club’s sake, they are able to come to some agreement regarding the sale of Mitrovic shortly. Rafa Benitez clearly could do with getting a substantial fee for the forward in order to see his transfer kitty boosted in at least some small way. The Spanish manager’s desire for new signings would also be helped by Mitrovic’s exit as the powerhouse currently earns £60,000-a-week (Source: Spotrac) so his departure would dramatically lighten the club’s current wage bill. The 23-year-old excelled while on loan at Fulham last season and looked able to be a prolific force. However when he plays in Benitez’s system he doesn’t have the same impact and it seems very likely that if he was to somehow end up staying at St James Park then he’d struggled to have a good season. With Mitrovic back from his post World Cup holiday shortly then hopefully having him back in the country will speed up negotiations regarding his permanent exit. However given how the Magpies like to ensure they get every penny they can when they sell a player, it might be up to the Cottagers to find the £2million that their potential offer is currently lacking for there to be a breakthrough.
