'Really confident': Fabrizio Romano claims Newcastle are close to landing their first summer signing

There have been plenty of stories lately surrounding Newcastle United's pursuit of two Premier League defenders on free transfers.

With Profit and Sustainability Rules crippling Newcastle in the transfer market ever since the takeover, the club is forever having to be creative when it comes to player recruitment, or simply having to give up on their preferred targets due to budgetary constraints.

It's no surprise then, that Newcastle are looking to the free agent market this summer with two Premier League defenders set to leave their respective clubs this summer firmly in their sights.

Bournemouth's Lloyd Kelly and Fulham's Tosin Adarabioyo are both leaving when their contracts expire at the end of the season and Newcastle are fighting to bring them both to Tyneside.

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Fabrizio Romano believes Lloyd Kelly to Newcastle is really advanced

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has said on his Here We Go Podcast that he believes that the move for Lloyd Kelly is close to completion and Tosin Adarabioyo could still follow.

"They are working on smart signings because as we already said on the podcast in the last episode, Lloyd Kelly from Bournemouth [is the] top target.

"Newcastle are really confident to make it happen. Kelly and Newcastle, the expectation is for the deal to advance really fast in the next weeks and then they are still working on Tosin Adarabioyo.

"Chelsea also called for him, Man Utd are also informed of the situation, but Newcastle in this case, are really pushing.

"Eddie Howe appreciates the player and so Newcastle could sign two centre-backs on a free transfer. From what I'm hearing, Kelly is really, really advanced and for Tosin Adarabioyo negotiations are still ongoing."

There never seems to be any agreement on which of the two is coming to Newcastle

It's one of those cases of we'll wait until we see the player at St James' Park holding the shirt type of things as the narrative on both players changes almost daily.

One minute it's Kelly who is joining, the next it's Tosin and vice versa, and then it's neither and then it's both. We are confident we will nab at least one of the two, but right now we aren't sure which.

We guess Lloyd Kelly based off this, but who knows? It could all change tomorrow.