Newcastle United have offered Aleksandar Mitrovic £27,000 a week after tax as they press the Anderlecht forward for a decision on whether or not he will move to Tyneside. Whatculture.com/nufc revealed on Tuesday that Newcastle have given Mitrovic a 48-hour deadline to sign on the dotted line - otherwise the club will move on to other striking targets. And now it has emerged that the Magpies have offered to double Mitrovic's wages as they look to convince the forward that St James' Park should be his summer destination. The Magpies have had a £12.3 million bid accepted by Anderlecht for the 20-year-old forward, but he is stalling on a deal as he would prefer to play European football in 2015-16. With Porto only willing to stump up 10 million (£7.1 million), Mitrovic appears to have been backed into a corner - either he must accept Newcastles offer within 48 hours, or remain in Belgium for another season, if the other clubs do not meet Newcastle's bid. Although Mitrovic is their primary striking target, Newcastle also have other irons in the fire - with the club still very much interested in Queens Park Rangers Charlie Austin and Wolfsburgs Bas Dost - who they want to move on to swiftly, which is why they have demanded an answer from the Serbia interational. Whats more, Ivica Mitrovic, the forwards father, has also placed some doubt over the transfer with some comments to Belgian media denying a move had been agreed. He told Het Nieuwsblad:
"There is nothing to it (yet). "To leave a big club like Anderlecht, all the pieces have to fit. "But we are not rushed. The time will come for my son.
Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Swansea City have also been linked to Mitrovic, while Porto are believed to have come up short in their final offer for the forward. Mitrovic has netted 44 goals in 90 matches for Anderlecht, and has a career total of 69 strikes from 158 games. A powerful and relatively-quick forward, Mitrovic has an eye for goal and he grabbed headlines when he scored Anderlechts equaliser at the Emirates Stadium last November when the Belgian side came from three goals down to draw 3-3 against Arsenal in a Champions League group-stage match. Anderlecht paid Partizan Belgrade a club-record £4 million for the 11-cap Serbia international, who started his career at Teleoptik, back in August 2013 and he has gone on to become one of Europes most sought-after forwards. In 2014-15 Mitrovic bagged 28 goals in 51 matches, including 20 in 37 Belgian Pro League appearances and three in the Champions League. 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.
