Keeper loan is set to be permanent
Mertens, Faouzi Ghoulam and Pepe Reina for just £40million with the majority of that team helping the Serie A club push Juventus close in the title race this year.
In the last couple of years, though, transfer fees have soared and Newcastle will be going into a brutal market as they look to solidify their Premier League place.
Last summer Liverpool managed to snap up Mo Salah for just £34.5million from AS Roma which seemed pricey at the time but is now looking like the bargain of the century as he looks to smash goal records left, right, and centre. Two of Benitez’s key recruitment figures Steve Nickson and Paul Baker jetted out on scouting missions in France and Italy this weekend to run the rule over several targets as the United manager whittles down his summer shopping list.
However, he will still need to know how much he has to spend and whether some of the targets are realistic.
That is why Newcastle have to move quickly.
Benitez is a shrewd operator in the transfer market and while prices will be astronomical for some players this year there are still bargains to be had.
He snapped up Lejeune for just £8.7million after activating a minimum release fee while Mikel Merino cost just £7million from Borussia Dortmund.
Benitez recently stated: “We have friends in Spain” but it is that type of knowledge and data which gives Newcastle a distinct advantage in this year’s summer window.
It is something United have never had before and will struggle to get again, therefore it is a no-brainer for Charnley and Ashley to give Benitez the tools he needs to do the job in the next few months. NEWCASTLE United have made Martin Dubravka an integral part of their summer transfer plans and will look to have the Slovakian international signed up in due course.
The Magpies have an option for a permanent deal for Dubravka and will aim to start next season with three senior goalkeepers with the Sparta Prague stopper, Karl Darlow and Rob Elliot set to do battle for the number 1 spot.
United remain in talks to extend Darlow’s contract but the goalkeeper wants assurances of a reasonable chance of first-team football as his current deal enters its final two years.
The Magpies will look to off-load Matz Sels this summer if they can agree a deal with Anderlecht, where he has spent the campaign on loan.
Newcastle will have a big decision to make on Freddie Woodman with the 21-year-old’s loan deal at Aberdeen soon to come to an end.
The Toon youngster could have signed for Celtic in January but opted for Pittodrie.
Woodman has played in eight games for the Dons but has recently found himself back on the bench and both the England under-21 goalkeeper and Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez will want a loan deal which guarantees first-team football.
That was understood to be the arrangement in January with Derek McInnes agreeing the deal would give him his fair share of first-team action. With McInnes knowing Aberdeen are under pressure to finish second in Scotland he has recently turned back to Joe Lewis in place of Woodman.
However, Woodman is wanted by clubs in League One and the Championship next season and is likely to return to England.
Meanwhile, Newcastle were linked with Croatian stopper Karlo Letica over the weekend with the club looking to bring in a clutch of under-23 players this summer after a number of departures from the second string this year.