Newcastle hope to sign £42m midfielder in January, but there is ‘more work to do’ on deal

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If you had to predict one player that Newcastle United will sign in January, most people would go with Kalvin Phillips.

He is the player who is being most heavily linked with a move to Tyneside, as the Magpies look to sign a replacement for Sandro Tonali who is banned for the rest of the season.

It looks all but certain that Kalvin Phillips is going to leave Manchester City in January. Pep Guardiola has apologised for not giving him enough football, while the 28-year-old is aware that he needs to be playing ahead of Euro 2024.

Newcastle could give him the minutes he needs, and that is a move that appeals to Phillips.

A loan deal could be on the cards, with a report on Tuesday claiming that the Magpies had now opened up talks with Manchester City over a temporary transfer for Phillips. There have even been noises on social media that a deal is pretty much done.

Eddie Howe has played down this speculation, and now the Telegraph’s Luke Edwards has provided an update on Newcastle’s pursuit of the £42million midfielder.

Newcastle must do ‘more work’ to sign Kalvin Phillips

Journalist Luke Edwards has taken to X (formerly known as Twitter) to update fans on Newcastle’s interest in Phillips. He knows that the Magpies are hoping to do a deal, but an agreement certainly is not imminent.

He wrote: “Asked today whether Kalvin Phillips loan deal was all but done for January Eddie Howe replied: “That isn’t true.” Newcastle like Phillips, we’ve been reporting that for weeks, there is hope a deal can be done, but there is a lot of competition and more work to do.”

Quick Phillips deal would be perfect start to January for Newcastle

With less than three weeks to go before the January transfer window opens, Newcastle are seemingly not close to completing a deal for Kalvin Phillips.

However, there is apparently hope that an agreement can be reached, which is certainly encouraging going into the second half of the season.

The England international would be a brilliant signing, and is a player who Eddie Howe has targeted in the past. The stars suddenly appear to be aligning, with Newcastle finally getting the chance to sign the player they have wanted for so long.

Newcastle look like the favourites to land Phillips, and it would be even better if the club can get a deal done early – like they did with Kieran Trippier in 2022.

That will allow the Toon hierarchy to quickly turn their attention elsewhere, during a month where Eddie Howe will want the club to sign multiple players to flesh out his depleted squad.