Toon eager to confirm Sels’ exit

to spend and that there’s a recognition that inflated prices mean the transfer record that has stood for 13 years is likely to – finally – come tumbling down.

But that seems more to do with the fact that £16.8million won’t get you very much in the sort of market Newcastle are dealing with.

With so few deals completed, it’s difficult to assess exactly how things are going to develop this summer, but with James Maddison set for Leicester in a £20million deal and Aston Villa quoting clubs £40million for Jack Grealish, it doesn’t feel like there will be too many bargains available.

Indeed a quick round of calls to agents this week to see where the land lies in this summer’s transfer market suggested prices would stay relatively stable from last year, when Newcastle found prices too exaggerated to compete.

“If Newcastle want to buy a striker for £12million, I don’t know where they’re going to find him,” one agent with Premier League strikers on his books told me. They said £25million is the minimum starting point for anyone with a track record in the major leagues.

Whether or not Newcastle can or will go to that sort of price range this summer is going to be a key component of whether they make a success of the next nine weeks of recruitment.

Graham Carr once told me that he doubted the Ashley hierarchy would EVER go to that sort of price for a player. He would put players into the board that would cost more than £15million but soon realised that there was no real will to go out and get them. It was this way that they missed out on a permanent deal for Loic Remy (twice), Michy Batshuayi, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette during the days when United shopped almost exclusively in Ligue 1. All four would have joined United; Newcastle did not come close to the asking price for any of them.

It is also how Newcastle ended up with Manu Riviere in 2015: a striker identified as one for the future if he could be paired with a more senior forward. In the end he became the answer himself as Steve McClaren’s hopes of bringing in Charlie Austin from QPR were torpedoed by the price tag and injury worries.

It is also how United wound up with a half-fit Islam Slimani in January. By failing to go to the price that PSV Eindhoven were asking for Nicolai Jorgensen, they left themselves with precious little time, and Slimani – a player who was not on United ended up with Islam Slimani because they wouldn’t match price for Nicolai Jorgensen, left Benitez’s initial wish-list – became the only viable option.

Benitez is hoping that they have learned those lessons and that the knowledge will be applied to a transfer market where – as he said back in November – an “average” striker will cost £15million. Add another £10million, he said, if a player “scores”.

Benitez’s realistic outlook extends to transfers where he believes that Newcastle can do good business on a budget if they move quickly.

It was notable that he namechecked Lee Charnley and Steve Nickson in the quotes attributed to him after Martin Dubravka signed and that feels like a good sign. United did a good deal for Dubravka in January and credit must be given to Charnley’s diligence.

But too often that diligence has turned into dithering and it has often felt to insiders as if not breaking that club transfer record is a consideration when signing players.

That feels unfair. United have tabled club record bids for at least two players in the last three seasons – Saido Berahino was one and Jorgensen another – and the barrier appears more to be about sticking to the parameters set by Ashley on cash flow. Charnley can spend it if United have it, in short.

With money in the bank and more to arrive via sales, the caution of last summer should subside and the club’s record transfer should finally be brokered. If it is, it’ll be another small victory for Benitez. NEWCASTLE United will hope to speed up Matz Sels’ permanent exit from St James’ Park after the goalkeeper was left out of Belgium’s 23-man World Cup squad.

The Magpies shot-stopper was one of five players who failed to make the final cut, with manager Roberto Martinez instead opting for Wolfsburg’s Koen Casteels, Chelsea’s Thibaut Courtois and Liverpool’s Simon Mignolet as his three goalkeepers.

Rafa Benitez is keen to sell Matz Sels after Newcastle completed the £4million permanent signing of Martin Dubravka last week.

United hope to receive at least that figure from the sale of Sels – the Magpies paid £5.5m for the goalkeeper two summers ago, but are unlikely to recoup the full amount – and are currently in negotiations with Anderlecht about making the 26-year-old’s loan move permanent.

Sels played in both the Champions League and the Belgian Jupiler League for Anderlecht last season and, despite making a couple of highprofile mistakes, he impressed throughout the majority of the campaign.

It is understood that Sels has already agreed a five-year contract in principle with Anderlecht, but the Belgian club are yet to finalise a fee with Newcastle.

However, the Magpies hope that Sels’ omission from the Belgium squad for the World Cup in Russia will expedite his exit.

On the one hand, Sels’ exclusion by Martinez could have a negative impact on the fee Newcastle can demand given that the goalkeeper will not feature in Russia – although, even if he had gone to the World Cup, he was unlikely to play, given that he would have been third-choice shot-stopper.

Instead, this will be viewed as a positive by Newcastle, who will hope to finalise Sels’ permanent move to Anderlecht soon.

Throughout the 2017/18 campaign, Newcastle subsidised a significant portion of Sels’ wages during his loan spell at the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium - ensuring the goalkeeper was the highest-paid player ever in the Belgian league.

For Benitez, it is crucial that he reduces United’s wage bill to accommodate the salaries of his priority targets – which include a striker, a winger and an attacking midfielder.