Newcastle have reportedly hit a stumbling block in their attempts to sign FC Twente duo Luuk de Jong and Douglas.
Alan Pardew and Graham Carr identified their targets early and a Toon delegation led by managing director Derek Llambias met Twente officials last week to push the moves through.
However, it seems like negotiations did not go as smoothly as Newcastle planned. In the case of De Jong, there are reports this morning that FC Twente rejected a final Newcastle United bid of €13.7m for the player and we are no longer interested.
Twente have maintained that they will only sell De Jong for an ‘absurd‘ amount of money. They are reportedly holding out for €15m, an amound NUFC are unwilling to pay right now.
Steve McClaren has once again told Dutch media that he is under no pressure to sell any of his players:
“After last season, I was told that we had to sell a player to balance the books.”
“After the departure of Ola John (to Benfica), there is now no pressure to sell anyone. I am happy with the squad and I don’t want to lose anyone.”
However, De Jong’s agent Louis Laros maintains the player wants to move abroad this summer – with rumours that he prefers a move to CL-playing German side Borussia Mönchengladbach.
“He [De Jong] is ready for the next step in his career and we have told Twente that.”
“I hope Twente are not unreasonable in the market price they are asking for him.”
In the case of Douglas, despite reports of a fee in the region of £5 million being agreed, any move for the Brazilian defender is likely to be put on hold, because he has to remain in the Netherlands until late August before he is eligible to play for the national team.
Keep an eye on NUFCfans.co.uk, @nufcfans on Twitter and our Facebook page for the latest on Toon’s Twente plans.
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