Newcastle attacker Matt Ritchie’s move to Championship club Stoke has moved a step closer, according to a reliable journalist.
Alan Nixon, the Sun’s transfer expert, has claimed that Stoke are putting work in to ensure the transfer gets over the line.
More than that, however, they have made Ritchie a “game changing” contract that would compensate him for moving out of the Premier League.
Nixon claims that it’s more than Premier League Bournemouth were prepared to pay to the 28y/o Scottish international midfielder.
Nixon made the claims on his personal Twitter account on Wednesday afternoon.
OPINION
Benitez needs to move players on to free up cash for new recruits and Matt Ritchie and Aleksandar Mitrovic are two of the biggest names that Newcastle want to jettison this summer. Stoke have obviously earmarked Ritchie as the player who can deliver them straight back into the Premier League next season, and they’re prepared to pay him handsomely for dropping down a division. Bournemouth were also credited with an interest in the Scottish international but Stoke have seemingly blown them out of the water with what’s been called a “game-changing” offer. Newcastle are looking to get £15million for the Scottish international who is currently on £45k-a-week. He would be a brilliant capture for Stoke and would boss the Championship, and while he’d be a loss to Newcastle, Benitez obviously has other players on his mind. Alassane Plea, Andros Townsend and Kenedy are all names that Newcastle have been linked with in recent weeks, but players need to go before new signings can be made. This deal looks like it could go through pretty soon.
