Newcastle hopeful of Wijnaldum deal

The Dutch midfielder has already turned down a switch to Sunderland, but their north-east rivals are hopeful they can convince him to make the move to St James' Park

By Graeme Bailey

Newcastle United are hoping to succeed where Sunderland failed and persuade PSV midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum to move to the Premier League.

Wijnaldum was high on Sunderland boss Dick Advocaat's list of summer targets, but despite the manager's hard work behind the scenes he has been unable to convince his countryman that moving to the Stadium of Light would be the right move.

However, Newcastle have now launched their own bid and are hopeful of sealing a deal as they look to make their first transfer breakthrough of the summer.

The 24-year-old signed a new deal with PSV until June 2018 ahead of the 2014-15 campaign, but the Eredivisie champions are ready to cash in on their skipper this summer if a good offer comes in.

Newcastle have moves for Charlie Austin, Florian Thauvin and Joel Matip in the pipeline, and with the club confident of bringing in all three, they are also pressing ahead with a number of other targets and Wijnaldum is now the most advanced.

A source confirmed to Goal: "No deals are done yet, but a number are moving on and the club are confident of getting some new faces in very soon."

Chief talent spotter Graham Carr is renowned for his work in France, but he also boasts excellent Dutch contacts which led to the capture of Siem De Jong last summer.

Steve McClaren has given his approval to all approaches made thus far but he is particularly keen on Wijnaldum having seen him in close quarters during his time in the Eredivisie.