Newcastle United will have to pay £15 million if they wish to bring Wolverhampton Wanderers' Benik Afobe to St James' Park this summer, according to the Mirror. Yesterday, Norwich made their third attempt at signing the 22-year-old and launched an offer of around £9 million. The bid was rejected and Wolves once again reiterated that the player is not for sale. The Championship club is clearly eager to hold onto the player who they signed in January for £2 million, following Afobe's impressive spell on loan at MK Dons. The striker - who scored 15 goals in 24 games last year - has already scored three goals in five games this season but Wolves have struggled to find their form and won just one of their first four league matches. After Wolverhampton's league cup win against Barnet last night, boss Kenny Jackett seemed frustrated by the constant rumours surrounding his player, he said:
"He's a Wolves player and when the window shuts he'll still be a Wolves player.
"There is an enormous amount of speculation. But he won't be leaving.
"We're looking at the whole picture, the amount of time left in the window, the overall prices, there's so much to consider and everything points to Wolves not letting anybody go."
It will be interesting to see if Norwich and Newcastle continue to battle for Afobe's signature with just a few days to go before the transfer window shuts.
NCTJ-accredited football writer with an MA in Sports Journalism. What Culture football editor. Write for the official Newcastle United programme. Former video reporter at North News. Featured and published in the Sunderland Echo, Shields Gazette, Mail Online, The Mirror, The Sun and others.
