'Expect him to go to Newcastle' - Journalist drops major transfer news on £19.8m-rated monster

Burnley defender James Tarkowski is thought to be bound for Newcastle United this summer, The Daily Mirror’s James Nursey reports. 

The centre-back’s Burnley contract is due to expire at the end of the 2021/22 season.

And The Athletic recently reported that he definitively ‘will leave’, having ‘made his intentions clear’ to the club hierarchy.

Newcastle did sign a centre-half in January in the form of Brighton’s Dan Burn, who cost £13million.

Nursey tweeted on Friday lunchtime that West Ham United have chosen to ‘end their interest in free agent’ Tarkowski because ‘they expect him to go to Newcastle’.

In the attached story, he explains that West Ham are ‘long-term admirers’ of the Englishman, but that Eddie Howe is ‘desperate’ to land a new centre-back this summer.

The Irons have now decided to move onto other targets, with Tarkowski set to secure a significant boost to his £50,000-per-week salary when he joins Newcastle.

This looks like intelligent business from Newcastle.

Tarkowski is a £19.8million-rated asset with 192 games of Premier League experience and two caps for England, and they’re seemingly getting him on a free transfer.

He’s regarded as a ‘top player’ by his former team-mate Paul Robinson and ex-manager Sean Dyche.

And he’s simply a monster when it comes to aerial duels, winning 4.4 per game (70%) compared to 3.3 (66%) for 6 foot 7 defender Burn.

Indeed, according to WhoScored, only two players in the league – Ivan Toney and Ethan Pinnock – have won more per 90 this season.

Howe reportedly has a budget of less than £90million at his disposal for the summer window, and this deal will allow him to tick an important box without eating into it.

In other news, this man is now ‘set to leave’ SJP in the summer.