Newcastle were 'a lot closer to signing' £34m star at St James' Park

Newcastle United were leading Italian giants Juventus in the race to sign Christian Pulisic from Chelsea during the summer transfer window but could not get a deal over the line, according to journalist Simon Phillips.

Eddie Howe was handed over £120 million to bolster his squad at St James’ Park but failed in his pursuit of the Blues’ American winger.

According to The Athletic, the Magpies were interested in signing the former Borussia Dortmund star on loan ahead of September’s deadline.

The report also states that fellow Chelsea stars Armando Broja, Conor Gallagher and Callum Hudson-Odoi were also being discussed behind the scenes.

However, the two-time European champions were understood to only be ready to sell Pulisic and would not loan him out.

Juventus informed Chelsea in the summer that they would be willing to accept the 23-year-old as part of a swap deal for centre-back Matthijs de Ligt, but the Dutchman ultimately signed for Bayern Munich.

Since the start of the season, Pulisic has appeared in every Premier League game for Chelsea but has only started their most recent clash with West Ham.

He also had to settle for a six-minute cameo during Graham Potter’s first game in charge which may not fill him with confidence.

Phillips understands that Newcastle were leading the race to sign Pulisic during the summer transfer window and had the edge over Juve.

The journalist adds that because Howe’s side only wanted the player on loan, the deal ultimately collapsed ahead of the deadline.

Phillips told GIVEMESPORT: “I’m told, in the summer, Newcastle were a lot closer to signing Pulisic than Juventus. They really wanted him on loan but, obviously, Chelsea weren’t going to do that, they only wanted to sell him permanently