Eddie Howe appears to have won his first battle with Newcastle’s new sporting director Paul Mitchell.
The Englishman has been forced to cope with a series of changes behind the scenes on Tyneside, but Howe has proved he is still very much in charge as far as strengthening the squad this summer is concerned.
Howe had an agreement with former Toon supremo Amanda Staveley that he would have the final say on transfers and her departure cast doubt over whether he still had to power to wield over blocking certain signings.
But the 46-year-old has stood firm on turning down the chance to progress further with Todibo and the club will now look at alternative targets.
“Dominic Calvert-Lewin is still a player Newcastle would buy if they could agree terms with the player, but they were not able to do that in the lead-up to the PSR deadline, when it was about Everton, Minteh and Calvert-Lewin going the other way,” Jacobs said.
“Just because things go quiet doesn’t mean Newcastle won’t return, but at this stage I’m told they’re not in active talks to reignite that Calvert-Lewin deal.”
Newcastle would sign Calvert-Lewin if they could agree personal terms, but the striker’s current wages may mean a deal wouldn’t be worthwhile.
Indeed, according to Spotrac, Calvert-Lewin is on £100,000-a-week.
That would make the striker one of Newcastle’s better-paid players, and after scoring just nine goals in the last two Premier League seasons, it’s hard to justify signing Calvert-Lewin on such lucrative terms.
