'On the verge': Journalist says Newcastle United are set to open talks over move for £60m forward

The transfer window re-opened today, and at almost 5:30 pm at the time of writing, Newcastle United STILL haven't made a first-team signing. Shocking!

In all truth, we're not expecting Newcastle to move quickly, despite the desperate pleas of manager Eddie Howe.

Since the PIF-backed takeover, Newcastle's pace in the transfer market has been anything but quick, so we'd be naive to expect that to change this year.

Additionally, the PSR reporting year doesn't actually tick over until the start of July, which is another ridiculous part of that rule. So clubs will be looking to add players after the 1st July so that they go into the next reporting cycle. Newcastle will have a £70 million loss dropping off their accounts on 1st July, so it does make sense to wait until then.

Getty Images

Newcastle are close to starting to think about having a discussion about opening talks with Brighton

With that being said, though, Newcastle should be working on transfers now as they take so long to get done, and it seems as though there could be some positive movement happening.

Luke Edwards has written in The Telegraph today that Newcastle are 'on the verge of opening talks with Brighton and Hove Albion over the signing of Joao Pedro', which is neither nowt nor summat as my Dad would say, but given how painfully slow things are moving, it's the best we've got.

Edwards says there's a growing confidence that a deal can be done, but with Newcastle valuing João Pedro at £60 million, we're expecting Brighton to add the standard 'Saudi Tax' on top of that.

Eddie Howe can make João Pedro great

There has been a strange mixed reaction amongst Newcastle fans when it comes to signing João Pedro, with many fans excited by the prospect, while others have been quick to downplay his talents, suggesting that he's actually pretty average, with most of his goals coming from the penalty spot.

However, we feel that once Eddie Howe gets his magic hands on him, Joao Pedro can go up another couple of levels, and there's nothing to say he won't be really pushing Alexander Isak for that starting spot in the future.

That might be a bit of hyperbole, but it's also not entirely unrealistic. Eddie Howe turned Jacob Murphy into a star and turned Joelinton into a Brazil international. The man has the Midas touch.