OPINION
Newcastle United must speed up Aleksandar Mitrovic’s exit from the club with Fulham reportedly closing in on a £20million deal for him as it will likely knock the Londoners out the race for Alassane Plea.
The Telegraph stated on Tuesday that the Magpies had agreed a fee with Fulham in principal for the powerful forward and that details about the terms of payment were what was left to be decided between the two clubs.
Rafa Benitez’s side should hurry to to reach an agreement with their Premier League rivals with a deal sounding like it’s close to be agreed as the Cottagers reportedly hold an interest in Plea.
Sky Sports reported that the Magpies were in talks with Nice over signing Plea after having an offer in the region of £27million rejected but that Fulham were also keen on the forward’s services.
The French club’s 25-year-old forward, who scored 21 goals in his 2017/18 campaign, would be a fantastic signing for the Magpies to make and getting his signature would be easier if they had less competition.
With the Telegraph’s report sharing that Fulham are set to smash their transfer record to get Mitrovic, as previously they have never spent more than £12.4million on a single player, then it’s unlikely that the Premier League new boys would shell out another £20million plus on recruiting another forward.
After winning promotion from the Championship through the play-offs the Cottagers have several areas of their team that need to strengthen ahead of a season in England’s top-flight and this means they can’t use all their money on signing new forwards.
If they welcome Mitrovic for anywhere near a fee in the region of £20million it will knock them out of the race for Plea which will aid the Magpies’ quest to sign their reported transfer target.
This means the Magpies should do all they can to speed up Mitrovic’s exit from St James Park in order to not only get a heap of money for services but so that successfully eliminate Fulham from the race for Plea.
