Latest De Jong News Nothing New

Talk of Newcastle United losing out on FC Twente striker Luuk de Jong gathered pace Sunday, with L'Equipe and France Football both reporting that de Jong will join Borussia Monchengladbach for €11 million.

Those media outlets are both quite reliable, which would seem to spell bad news for Newcastle's pursuit of de Jong. However, the reports don't appear to be based on any new information - Germany's Express tabloid originally reported the same thing on Thursday. Were that accurate, then Newcastle sending a delegation to the Netherlands on Friday wouldn't make much sense.

The reported transfer fee also doesn't jibe with what Twente was said to be asking (not to mention Newcastle reportedly was willing to pay €12 million for the Swiss-born striker). Quotes from de Jong's agent, Louis Laros, also appeared in Voetbal International and Twentsche Courant Tubantia late Sunday, with Laros saying de Jong wants to have a new club by July 9, when Twente resumes preseason training. That would seem to indicate that he's still on the market.

De Jong may very well end up in Germany - Borussia Monchengladbach can offer him Champions League football, after all - but it doesn't seem to be a done deal just yet.

In other transfer news, the Sunday Express claims Newcastle and Twente have agreed on a fee of £5 million for Brazilian center back Douglas. Given that the report consists of two sentences, we're going to wait for something a bit more substantial.

And Ajax midfielder Vurnon Anita, the subject of a failed bid earlier in the summer, admitted interest in a move to Newcastle (albeit with the tried and true caveat that he's still focused on his current club).

Comments

[Alan Hosey]

Wrong

[M]

Right