Newcastle hope to seal signing of £6.7m Ajax midfielder Vurnon Anita

Ajax midfielder will discuss personal terms and meet Pardew after two clubs agree on transfer fee

Martin Hardy
Tuesday 14 August 2012 06:49 EDT
Comments
Ajax midfielder Vurnon Anita is about finalise his £6.7m move to St James' Park
Ajax midfielder Vurnon Anita is about finalise his £6.7m move to St James' Park (Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Newcastle remain optimistic they will sign the Ajax midfielder Vurnon Anita, but the player has still to finalise his £6.7m move to St James' Park.

A fee has been agreed for the 23-year-old and further negotiations over personal terms are expected to take place this week.

"The clubs have a deal, I think," Anita said. "Now I have to reach an agreement with Newcastle. I have an offer, but I can't say more about this.

"The clubs have agreed a fee, but I have not. I'm still an Ajax player. I think it will be finished soon, but you never know how it will go.

"I have played for Ajax for 13 years, it has been a great time and I am grateful to Ajax.

"Now it's up to me. But first I want to talk with the manager of Newcastle United before taking a decision. The whole picture has to be right for me."

For their part, Newcastle are confident that they can finalise a deal for a player they have tracked for a significant period of time.

Manager Alan Pardew remains keen to strengthen his squad before the season begins, although, as yet, he has not lost any of the players who last season took Newcastle to a fifth-place finish in the Premier League.

He hopes to complete the signing of Anita, who can also play at left-back, and achieve a positive outcome in the long-running pursuit of France international Mathieu Debuchy. The 26-year-old remains eager to leave Lille despite attempted blocks on any deal by his current employers.

Newcastle are keen to strengthen their defence with the addition of at least two new defenders by the time the window closes at the end this month. Their squad faces an early test from a Europa League campaign now confirmed to start on 23 August.

Uefa last night knocked back Newcastle's appeal to switch the first leg of their tie with Atromitos to St James' Park in order to avoid travelling back from Greece to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge for their televised clash on 25 August. They now face an 8pm kick-off in Greece and a Premier League game at the European champions less than 48 hours later.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in