Newcastle United Transfer Rumours: Magpies Reportedly Land Bafetimbi Gomis

Newcastle United have agreed a fee to bring Lyon forward Bafetimbi Gomis to St James’ Park, according to French news outlet Le Journal du Dimanche.

The article reports that a fee in the region of £8 million, rising to £10 million dependent upon bonuses, has been confirmed by Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas. French football writer Matt Spiro provided the tweet.

Encouragingly for Newcastle fans, who have been waiting for their first major summer signing since Joe Kinnear’s appointment as director of football, Aulas predicts the deal will be done by the end of the week in quotes provided by the Mail Online.

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We agreed on Newcastle's offer for an €8 million transfer plus €2 million in bonuses. The club has come to accept the player's salary claims.

The deal is now subject to an agreement over the agents fees.I understand there's a problem over the amount and the payment of the fees... Hopefully, it would be settled within the next 24 or 48 hours.

"

The 27-year-old striker would add genuine power to the Newcastle forward line, and he is coming off the back of good season in front of goal in Ligue 1, scoring 16 times for Lyon.

Newcastle have been searching for a talismanic forward ever since they sold Demba Ba to Chelsea, which left Papiss Cisse to shoulder much of the striking burden in the latter part of the 2012-13 campaign.

A France international of 12 caps, Newcastle will be buying a fully-formed talent rather than potential in Gomis, although Spiro sounds a word of warning over the striker’s qualities.

The addition of Gomis would provide Alan Pardew with plenty of striking options for the new season, with Cisse and Yoan Gouffran currently complementing Sammy and Shola Ameobi.

Newcastle have also been linked to both Loic Remy of QPR and Darren Bent of Aston Villa, although the latter is reportedly the subject of an approach from Fulham. However, with Gomis in the fold, one can expect that the Magpies' pursuit of both of those strikers will taper off.