While Diego Carlos and Jesse Lingard have grabbed the headlines over the past few days, Newcastle are still working to reach an agreement for Atalanta striker Duvan Zapata. Newcastle recently had a loan with a purchase obligation should we survive turned down.

The initial offer was believed to total around €30m (€5m loan fee plus €25m purchase option). There are reports this morning Newcastle will try to tempt Atalanta again by raising the total to €40m.

This comes from journalists Pedro Almeida and Nicolo Schira who have taken to Twitter to post their updates.

Newcastle increase the offer by Duvan #Zapata, six-months loan deal with buy obligation of 40M€. The deal is getting closer and closer. ?????? #NUFC #Atalanta https://t.co/gbgCeVZipd

— Pedro Almeida (@pedrogva6) January 21, 2022

Expected on Monday a new ? between #Newcastle and #Atalanta for Duvan #Zapata: #Magpies will offer €40M to sign the striker. #NUFC’s formula deal is on loan with obligation to buy, but Atalanta ask the payment immediately. For him ready a contract until 2025 (5M/year + bonuses) https://t.co/daHaR32lDo

— Nicolò Schira (@NicoSchira) January 21, 2022

The issue remains with the structure of the deal. Atalanta are unlikely to agree to lose their leading goalscorer without the cash in hand to fund a replacement as Schira suggests.

It does appear, as with Diego Carlos, that the player is keen to make the move as personal terms have reportedly been agreed. The problem lies in convincing Atalanta to agree to what essentially is a very low-risk deal for Newcastle.

Zapata would be an outstanding signing in this window. He would provide Howe with plenty of options and competition at striker along with Chris Wood, and Callum Wilson when he returns from injury.

This one could drag on for a bit if Newcastle are unwilling to scrap the loan attempt. However, like both Carlos and Jesse Lingard, this would be a move that improves the squad significantly.

 Loading ...