Newcastle United are closing in on the signing of Borussia Dortmund’s Mikel Merino.
Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez has told The Northern Echo that he is ‘quite confident’ that a deal for Borussia Dortmund midfielder Mikel Merino will completed imminently.
The Magpies coasted past Bradford City with a 4-0 pre-season friendly win on Wednesday night, but the attention turns right back to potential new signings.
Benitez has so far been able to bring in three new faces to boost his squad following promotion to the Premier League, with Florian Lejeune, Javier Manquillo and Jacob Murphy arriving.
Borussia Dortmund’s Mikel Merino and Hertha Berlin’s Vedad Ibisevic in action
Christian Atsu has also penned a permanent deal having spent last season on loan from Chelsea, and manager Benitez is still keen to bring in more new faces before the start of the Premier League campaign.
Despite already having Isaac Hayden and Jack Colback at his disposal, Benitez has been pursuing another central midfielder to play alongside Jonjo Shelvey – and he looks to have found one.
Sky Sports reported on Wednesday that Borussia Dortmund midfielder Mikel Merino was undergoing a medical with Newcastle ahead of an expected season-long loan move to St. James’ Park.
The Spain Under-21 international, who joined Dortmund from Osasuna last summer, struggled for first-team football in Germany last season, and looks set to join Newcastle to play alongside Shelvey.
Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez
Newcastle boss Benitez has now told The Northern Echo that he is ‘quite confident’ that Newcastle will pull off the deal for Merino, suggesting that the Magpies would be signing a ‘player with quality’ to boost the midfield options.
“I’m quite confident that we’ll do it,” said Benitez. “Hopefully, it will get done and we will have a player with quality, who can help us in the middle of the park,” he added.
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