£60m striker now NUFC's top target, with loan star, Botman & bargain buys also eyed up - Report

According to i news, Newcastle United are stepping up their summer transfer plans now our Premier League status looks more and more likely to be maintained.

In his latest piece, Mark Douglas states that one player of particular interest is Benfica striker Darwin Nunez, claiming the Uruguayan international has been identified as a 'prime target.'

He reports that we were quoted £50m for the highly-rated forward back in January, but it's believed it'll now take a bid of around £60m to lure him away after he's scored 25 goals in 32 games for the Portuguese giants this season.

Elsewhere, a permanent move for Matt Targett looks likely with an 'agreement in place' for the impressive Aston Villa loanee, while a fresh move for Lille centre-back Sven Botman also looks likely.

Douglas then reveals that we are taking a close look at a series of 'high-profile free agents'. No names are mentioned, but we have been linked with a whole host of players who will see their contracts expire this summer.

The likes of Jesse Lingard (Man Utd), Boubacar Kamara (Marseille), Jason Denayer (Lyon), Marcelo Brozovic (Inter Milan), Florian Grillitsch (Hoffenheim) and James Tarkowski (Burnley) come to mind.