Newcastle reportedly agree to sign Rogerio and Jamal Lewis; signing both would be a surprise

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Newcastle United fans haven’t had much to shout about in the transfer window, but things could now be heating up for the Magpies.

The club’s drawn-out takeover ended up falling through, meaning Steve Bruce has so far been limited to bringing in free transfers in Mark Gillespie and Jeff Hendrick.

Now though, it’s all happening at St James’ Park. The Telegraph claim that Ryan Fraser is set to sign on a free transfer, whilst Newcastle are also confident of adding his former Bournemouth teammate Callum Wilson.

That report also noted that Newcastle have had a £13.5million bid for Norwich City defender Jamal Lewis accepted – and that’s where some confusion begins.

Lewis impressed in the Premier League last season, and undoubtedly improves Newcastle’s left back spot, which has been a problem in recent years.

However, fans may be a little baffled given that The Chronicle report that Newcastle are close to signing Sassuolo left back Rogerio for £12.5million – and Sky Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio states that the deal is ‘almost done’.

Rogerio is a great talent, and impressed at Sassuolo last season despite starting just 12 league games. He is quick and exciting going forward, and has the potential to improve with more playing time.

Both players are 22, and come at similar prices, so are Newcastle really about to invest £26million in two left backs?

It seems hard to believe that Newcastle will be signing both, pumping big money into one area of the pitch when it’s likely that only one will start; admittedly, Lewis can kick in to play at centre back and Rogerio can be pushed forward if needed.

Newcastle may have instead moved for Rogerio as a backup target in case they couldn’t land Lewis, as the Northern Ireland international makes much more sense given that he has already played in the Premier League.

Signing both would be one way to solve the left back issues, but it just doesn’t seem likely; it’s surely a case of one or the other rather than both, with Lewis the likely favourite if that’s the state of play.