Newcastle United have agreed to sell Aleksandr Mitrovic to newly-promoted Fulham for an initial £22m, bringing the protracted negotiations to an end, according to Sky Sports.
What’s the latest, then?
It has been clear all summer that Slavisa Jokanovic’s play-off winners wanted to sign the Serbian on a permanent basis but could not agree on his valuation with the Magpies, until now.
Sky Sports report that Mitrovic has left Newcastle’s training camp after an initial £22m fee, which could rise to £27m, was agreed to take him to Craven Cottage.
The report also quotes Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez as saying the money will allow him to bring in another striker, with reports linking Salomon Rondon with an instant return to the Premier League refusing to go away.
Forget Rondon, Ings’ pace makes him a better option
Playing the lone striker role for Benitez’s workmanlike, organised Newcastle is a thankless task and while Rondon is used to that from his time at West Brom, he was unable to combine off-the-ball work with finding the net regularly.
Rondon is a strong target man but if Newcastle are to become more incisive this season, they need to rely on a more pacey counter-attacking style and the pace of Liverpool outcast Danny Ings would be more conducive to that.
Ings is reportedly the subject of a £20m bid from Crystal Palace – another counter-attacking side in need of more pace than Christian Benteke can offer – but the Mitrovic windfall means Newcastle can match that.
The Englishman would be a much more potent threat, and with Ayoze Perez, Christian Atsu and potentially Andros Townsend lining up behind him, Benitez would suddenly have a dangerous frontline to go with his disciplined unit.
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