Newcastle Hope To Complete Taylor Signing

FROM THE SHIELDS GAZETTE

NEWCASTLE United hope to clinch their fourth signing of the summer – Swansea City’s Neil Taylor – by the end of the week.

The 22-year-old was the subject of a £1m bid from the club earlier this month.

And the fact that Taylor, a left-back, is not yet a Newcastle player has led to speculation that talks have broken down, though Everton, contrary to speculation, are not understood to be in for the Wales international.

The Gazette understands United are still confident of signing Taylor, who held talks with Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins last week after returning from holiday.

Swansea are reluctant to lose Taylor, an influential figure in their play-off winning campaign, but manager Brendan Rodgers has said he won’t stand in the way of any player who wants to leave the Liberty Stadium.

Taylor wouldn’t be a replacement for Jose Enrique, who could leave this summer after refusing to discuss a new deal at St James’s Park.

And the player – who started his career at Manchester City before moving to Wrexham, where he made his first-team debut – would have to accept he is not guaranteed first-team football.

At newly-promoted Swansea, Taylor would be guaranteed a starting place in Rodgers’ side, who beat Reading at Wembley in the play-off final last month to win promotion to the Premier League.

Taylor, however, missed that game through suspension, having been dismissed in their semi-final first-leg against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.

But the Welshman – who can also play on the left side of midfield, is understood to be ready to fight for his place at United, where highly-rated teenager Shane Ferguson is also vying for a place at left-back.

Ferguson, 19, proved an able deputy for unsettled Enrique late last season