Dwight Gayle could feature in Newcastle’s latest pre-season friendly match despite ongoing exit talks, according to Chronicle Live.
The newspaper claims that despite Gayle holding talks with West Brom regarding a switch to The Hawthorns, he could still feature in the Toon’s pre-season friendly against SC Braga on Wednesday.
The report claims that the 27-year-old speedster, who currently earns £40,000-per-week at St. James Park (Spotrac), has been training normally with his teammates in Portugal, with the club also in talks to potentially bring in Salomon Rondon as part of the deal.
It is understood that the former Crystal Palace striker has yet to agree terms with the Baggies, while Newcastle are still negotiating with Albion over a fee for Rondon.
OPINION
This is a bit of a risky move for Rafael Benitez. If he really wants Salomon Rondon and letting Dwight Gayle go the other way is the key to the deal, then he needs to make sure the 27-year-old doesn’t get injured and risk the move falling through. Rondon was kept on the sidelines in the last Albion game, which is very sensible considering the reported ongoing talks between the two clubs, but’s it’s interesting as to why the Magpies didn’t do the game with Gayle. It could be that the club are doing everything they can to keep the former Crystal Palace man at the club, maybe they don’t want him to leave on the cheap and this is their way of showing Albion that if they don’t agree to their terms, then they will continue playing the striker as normal. Either way, this is another example of Newcastle dragging transfer talks on for way longer than needed, this deal could have been done relatively easily as Rondon has a release clause that needs to be met.
