Newcastle want Lucas or Flanagan as part of Wijnaldum deal

Liverpool have been linked to central midfielders throughout Europe this summer, as Jürgen Klopp is expected to boost the backbone of his side before the end of the transfer window.

Newcastle United may be gradually coming round to the idea that they’ll lose Georginio Wijnaldum to Liverpool, but they’re not prepared to let him go easily. “Our idea is to keep these players, if it’s possible”, he continued, confirming that it won’t be easy to prise either Wijnaldum or Sissoko away.

Just one year removed from a £14.5million deal that brought him to the Premier League from PSV, the 25-year-old midfielder is now valued at about £20million.

Despite his form, the Dutch global was unable to prevent the Magpies from relegation to the Championship and Wijnaldum is one of several top players who are expected to leave St James’ Park this summer.

Wijnaldum was the top scorer for Newcastle last season with 11 goals in a disappointing season that saw the Magpies drop down to the Championship for the second time in the past decade. The Dutchman was instrumental in creating 48 chances throughout the course of the 2015-16 campaign while engineering 1049 passes at an accuracy of 85%, with 69% of those passes completed with an intent of going forward.

The Mirror claims Liverpool’s local rivals Everton and Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur are also interested in landing Wijnaldum.

The Reds are now “confident” that they can strike a deal to purchase Newcastle’s Georginio Wijnaldum this week, according to The Telegraph.