Newcastle agree £55m deal for Brentford's Wissa

Newcastle are closing in on an agreement for Brentford forward Yoane Wissa worth more than £50m, a day after he urged the Bees to "keep their word" and let him leave.

Brentford have already rejected two offers for the DR Congo international this summer - with the latest being £35m guaranteed plus £5m in add-ons.

It comes after Liverpool agreed a British transfer record fee of £125m to sign Newcastle striker Alexander Isak.

Magpies boss Eddie Howe is desperate to strengthen his forward line, despite completing the club record signing of striker Nick Woltemade from Stuttgart on a six-year contract last week.

Wissa, 28, issued a statement on Sunday publicly confirming he wanted to leave and accusing Brentford of "unduly standing in his way" of a move to Newcastle.

In a statement on Instagram, Wissa said: "I have stayed silent for much of the summer, but with just hours remaining of the transfer window I feel compelled to make it clear that I want to leave Brentford.

"I believe the club are unduly standing in my way despite a series of fair offers throughout the summer."

Brentford and Newcastle reopened talks on Monday in an attempt to conclude a deal before the 19:00 BST deadline.

The Bees sold forward Bryan Mbeumo to Manchester United for an initial £65m earlier in the window.

Goalkeeper Mark Flekken has also left to join Bayer Leverkusen for £8m, while midfielder Christian Norgaard moved to Arsenal in a £15m deal.

Last month, Brentford completed a club record deal of up to £42.5m for forward Dango Ouattara from Bournemouth.

Newcastle have already broken their transfer record to sign Woltemade.

But the club desperately need another forward to help ease the burden on the new arrival, who has never played outside of Germany.

It has, therefore, been far from a coincidence that Newcastle have gone back in for a proven Premier League player like Wissa.

In truth, Newcastle never truly went away.

Rather than giving up, after having two previous bids rejected, Newcastle returned to the table in the final throes of the window.

It represents a shift in transfer policy.

Newcastle have not recruited an outfielder aged 26 or older in more than three years, but it is rather telling that an exception looks set to be made for Wissa, who turns 29 on Wednesday.

Yet Wissa is a late bloomer rather than someone entering the twilight of his career.

For context, Wissa was playing in the French second division in 2020, but his year-on-year development has been such he went on to score more non-penalty goals (19) than any other player in the Premier League last season.

Wissa's instincts in the box as well as his fitness record and ability to plug in make him an attractive proposition for Newcastle, who only had one player hit double figures last season.

That man was, of course, Isak, who is set to complete a British record move to Liverpool.

Now, if an agreement is struck with Brentford, it could fall to Wissa to help fill the void left by the Swede.