Toon duo 'are potential candidates to go' as Bruce eyes signing before 11pm deadline - Report

The Chronicle are reporting that Matt Ritchie and Sean Longstaff could yet be sacrificed in Steve Bruce's bid to bring in a deadline day signing.

Lee Ryder reports that outgoing remain key if we are to bring in a new face before tonight's 11pm deadline, and states that the NUFC duo are two players who could make way.

Not only is money tight - Mike Ashley is clearly refusing to inject any more cash into the club based on Bruce's latest comments - it seems any potential loan signing will rely on us moving someone out.

Matty Longstaff has already gone, however he is classed as an U21 player not needing to be registered as part of our 25-man squad, meaning a senior player may need to make way.

Ritchie has been linked with a return to Bournemouth on numerous occasions and admitted he came very close to leaving earlier this year, while Sean Longstaff is believed to be on Rafa Benitez's radar at Everton.

Here's a snippet from The Chronicle's latest piece on the transfer front:

Newcastle United head coach Steve Bruce goes into the last throes of the transfer window knowing he must reduce the squad size further if he is to get the nod to bring another loan signing.

Having cleared his roster significantly this summer with the departures of Andy Carroll, Florian Lejeune, Yoshinori Muto, Henri Saivet, Christian Atsu and Achraf Lazaar the wage bill has been slashed by around £200,000 per week.

Bruce, who has had his most testing summer so far in terms of recruitment at United, spoke about "trading" and the need to reduce the squad size by one or two players before being able to bring in new faces only on Friday.

When scanning the squad and considering possible departures, Matt Ritchie, who has been forever linked with a return to AFC Bournemouth, and Sean Longstaff, a reported £10million target for Everton, are potential candidates to go.