There have been conflicting reports about Newcastle United and Sunderland's pursuit of Georginio Wijnaldum - and now there are claims that West Ham United also want the PSV Eindhoven midfielder. The Brentwood Gazette state that the Hammers are monitoring Wijnaldum's situation and will pounce if Newcastle, Sunderland and Manchester United miss out on the £14 million-rated Dutch midfielder. Reports had claimed that the Black Cats had launched an £11 million bid for Wijnaldum, only for that to be rubbished - before suggestions were made that Sunderland were not actually interested in the midfielder at all. Newcastle's desire to sign Wijnaldum is certainly genuine if the price is right and the club's board are drawing up plans to make a move in the coming weeks if they believe a deal can be done for a decent fee, whatculture.com/nufc understands. 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 that fee, with Liverpool also interested, but if Louis van Gaal does up his pursuit Wijnaldum then the bidding process could go through the roof. The 24-year-old is keen to move to the Premier League this summer and it is likely that his links to Sunderlands Dutch coach Advocaat could play a key role in luring him to the Stadium of Light if the Black Cats do up their interest. However, Magpies head coach Steve McClaren also has an extensive understanding of the Dutch market - having managed FC Twente twice - and so both he and chief scout Graham Carr could yet convince Wijnaldum that St James Park is the North-East ground he should ply his trade at next season. 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. Which Premier League ground will Wijnaldum be strutting his stuff at next season? 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.
