Newcastle’s SIX missed summer transfer targets – as Man City set to beat them to a seventh

Newcastle have endured a frustrating summer in the transfer market and now look set to miss out on James Trafford, with Man City in talks to sign the Burnley goalkeeper

Newcastle are facing yet another significant setback on the transfer front with their long-term goalkeeper target, James Trafford, now likely to re-join Manchester City.

The Magpies have been courting Trafford, 22, for over 12 months and came close to striking a deal for the Burnley goalkeeper last summer. Talks over a switch were resurrected earlier this summer despite the Clarets’ promotion to the Premier League with Newcastle in pole position to clinch a deal for the youngster.

Unfortunately for Newcastle, Manchester City have a buyback clause in place as part of the deal that took Trafford to Turf Moor back in the summer of 2023.

And with uncertainty over the future of Ederson, City are now in talks with Burnley and favourites to sign Trafford.

As outlined by The Telegraph, failure to sign Trafford would represent a SEVENTH summer transfer snub for Newcastle, who have missed out on lots of their top targets.

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Liam Delap and Joao Pedro were among the players Newcastle fancied signing to bolster their attack, only for both to join Chelsea.

Bryan Mbeumo was also identified as a primary target after a stellar season with Brentford. But the Cameroon star, like another Magpies target in Matheus Cunha, has agreed to join Manchester United.

Newcastle also missed out on a deal for Dean Huijsen who swapped Bournemouth for Real Madrid, while their chances of signing Hugo Ekitike have gone up in smoke now that Liverpool are advancing in talks to sign the Frenchman.

Failure to clinch Trafford’s signature after weeks of talks would mean Newcastle missing out on a SEVENTH transfer target during what has been a rotten summer window for the Toon Army.

Eddie Howe shed some light on Newcastle’s frustrations in the transfer market after Saturday’s 4-0 loss against Celtic in a friendly. The Magpies boss said: “My wish was for us to do our business early and we certainly tried, but it wasn’t to be.

“We’ve had a frustrating time in terms of losing targets to other clubs. I’d be very open with that. That’s happened on several occasions. You just have to accept it. In order for a transfer to really work, in my opinion, the player has to be desperate to come to your club. If we don’t get that, the transfer doesn’t work.

“We’re seeking players that are good enough, that are desperate to come, and that can make the difference that they’re in short supply for us. We’re confident that we can try and get some more players in to strengthen the depth of the squad. We’re certainly aware that we need to and we’re trying as hard as we can to do that.”

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