Newcastle close in on Dominic Calvert-Lewin but the cost may be higher than just what they pay

The story that Newcastle United and Everton are close to agreeing a deal for striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin has dominated the NUFC news today.

Newcastle have a long-standing interest in Calvert-Lewin who has 68 goals and 18 assists over 247 appearances for the Toffees with 54 of those goals coming in the Premier League.

As well as his goal return for Everton, he also has four goals in 11 appearances for England, so there's no doubt that the 27-year-old knows how to find the back of the net.

For an English Premier League-established striker, Newcastle could be set to land a bargain with the fee being touted as somewhere between £20m-£35million.

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Newcastle could have Calvert-Lewin signed before the end of the month

We said today that if we can nab him for under £30million then we'd have done a good bit of business.

The Daily Mail are saying Everton want £35million, but that's not all they want with Sean Dyche keen on Yankuba Minteh going the other way.

It will not be a swap, but a separate deal and will be done to ensure both clubs fall in line with PSR before the deadline next week, which means this could move quickly.

Everton are getting the better deal

Calvert-Lewin would represent pure profit for Everton so whatever fee we pay will help them in their quest to keep the Premier League bean counters off their back, while Newcastle are set to make a huge profit on Yankuba Minteh who only signed last year for a reported £6million and is now set to land Newcastle £30million.

What Everton and Newcastle could essentially end up doing is swapping players for free, but doing it as two separate cash sales to balance their respective books. It's a great idea in terms of getting around the irritant that is PSR.

However, we can't help but feel that Everton may end up with the better deal here if this all goes through. At just 19, Minteh has plenty of time to grow into a top player, and after adding £25million to his value in one season, he could go on to be a £100million player in the future whereas Calvert-Lewin is 27 and hitting his peak, so the only way is down after that.

One way to look at it though, is that if Minteh goes to Everton they'll probably end up nerfing him so he'll not go on to be as good as he would had he stayed or joined literally any of the other clubs who are interested in him.