Newcastle United are poised to beat Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain and their bitter rivals Sunderland to the signature of Dutch international midfielder Georgino Wijnaldum. The Sunday People claim that Wijnaldum has turned down a move to the Stadium of Light - because he favours joining up with Steve McClaren at St James' Park instead. Last month Wijnaldum flirted with the possibility of joining PSG, while Man Utd boss Louis van Gaal is known to be a huge fan, but it appears that Newcastle will complete a £15 million move for the midfielder - if they are willing to stump up the cash to PSV Eindhoven. Reports had claimed that the Black Cats had launched an £11 million bid for Wijnaldum last month, only for those to be rubbished - before suggestions were made that Sunderland were not actually interested in the midfielder at all. Wijnaldum has already been capped 18 times by Holland, scoring twice, and is regarded as one of the most-promising players in Europe due to the fact he has a habit of regularly finding the back of the net. Both Newcastle and Sunderland would hope to negotiate down the £15 million fee, with Liverpool also interested, but if PSG and Man Utd do up their pursuit of Wijnaldum then the bidding process could go through the roof. Wijnaldum has already won three trophies with PSV and has made 152 appearances, scoring an impressive 56 times from midfield and contributing 23 assists, since moving there from Feyenoord in 2011. The midfielder also netted for Holland during the 3-0 third-place play-off win over Brazil at last years World Cup. For all the latest NUFC News, Views and Transfers make sure to follow whatculture.com/NUFC on Twitter and Facebook.
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
