Joe Willock has arrived at the Newcastle United training ground to complete his medical and finalise his transfer from Arsenal.
The attacking midfielder could train with the squad on Friday and Newcastle are trying to complete the deal by noon and have him registered for their Premier League opener against West Ham, live on Sky Sports.
Newcastle have agreed a fee rising to £25m for the 21-year-old, who spent the second half of last season on loan with the Magpies.
For three days Newcastle and Willock had been locked in discussions, with the two parties apart on personal terms until a Thursday morning breakthrough.
Willock helped Steve Bruce’s side to a 12th-place finish in the Premier League in the 2020/21 campaign with eight goals in 14 games from midfield, becoming the youngest player to score in seven consecutive games in the competition.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Friday morning, head coach Bruce said: “He’s having a medical as we speak, so we hope that comes through okay.
“We knew that we’d have to be patient. From the very last game of the season, we’d made it pretty obvious that if Joe was going to become available, then we would try to secure him.
“To start with, I knew [Arsenal boss] Mikel [Arteta] would want to have a look at him in pre-season – that’s only normal, to have a look at your young players – so we knew we had to be patient.
“Obviously we explored the loan situation to begin with – because I think that would have suited certainly Joe and it certainly suited us – but when that wasn’t possible with Arsenal, then we’ve had to go and buy him, which is great for us.
“There were times when I didn’t think it was going to happen, but fair play to [managing director] Lee [Charnley] and everybody concerned, we’ve managed to get it over the line.”
Willock would become Newcastle’s first signing of the summer, while Christian Atsu, Andy Carroll, Yoshinori Muto, Florian Lejeune, Jake Turner and Henri Saivet have departed the club during this transfer window.
The Arsenal academy product made his senior debut for the Gunners in 2017 and has gone on to score 11 goals and make four assists in 78 games for them, but he left on loan last season after seeing his game time limited under Mikel Arteta.
Follow the summer transfer window with Sky Sports
You can follow all the latest transfer news and rumours in our dedicated Transfer Centre blog on Sky Sports’ digital platforms, as well as keeping track of all the developments on Sky Sports News.
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