Toon bid £8m for Luuk de Jong

Doing a deal for de Jong? Newcastle have made a bid of £8m (just shy of €10m) for FC Twente striker Luuk de Jong if reports in the local and national press are to be believed.

The 21-year-old Netherlands international has long been linked with Newcastle United and it would now appear, after his country's elimination from EURO 2012, that the club have decided to test the water with a bid.

FC Twente are said to be looking for closer to £12m although once again we get back to the whole cash is king argument. Will Steve McClaren be tempted by thought of having a slightly lower fee up front so he can reinvest it in his team? Or would he prefer to wait for some of the cash like most other deals are structured?

Of course the news that we are actively pursuing a striker will fan the flames of the Demba Ba rumours once more and may even point towards to the fact that something has happened behind the scenes and that Ba has perhaps given an indication that he may indeed be off after all.

That is pure speculation on my part of course, but to me it seems strange that our club would be willing to spend what is a relatively large amount on a striker, which to me would suggest de Jong is eyed as being a starter. Yes I know we have more games next season with Europe and everything, but I still didn't expect us to be willing to spend that amount on a striker.

For his part de Jong is a cracking not-so-little player with an impressive record in the Eredivisie and has racked up 59 goals in 119 appearances. Although his real breakthrough only came two seasons ago, it's worth pointing out that since then he has scored 52 goals in 99 appearances.

The 21-year-old is tall (he stands at 6ft 2in), physical and can find the back of the net. He can improve and has years ahead of him in his career. An unused substitute for The Netherlands in all three EURO 2012 group games, de Jong has already represented his country seven times. Maybe they should have given him a go rather than sit him on the bench?

All in all, good stuff. Time will tell whether our bid is successful or not, but you never know, it might be. Alan Pardew and Steve McClaren get on - the former Middlesbrough manager was a guest of Pardew's at the training ground not so long back remember - so perhaps the wally with the brolly may fancy doing us a favour?

We wont be the only club interested in de Jong though, which could be a problem, but then again I guess we'll just have to wait and see how it all pans out.