The Magpies kicked off their pre-season campaign by beating National League North side Darlington 3-0 in a behind-closed-doors game at their newly-renamed KNOX training complex yesterday.
Summer signings Ewen Jaouen and Sean Steur both featured in the game – Bazoumana Toure is yet to join up with his new team-mates after representing Ivory Coast at the World Cup – with Newcastle’s recruitment team currently working on multiple targets as they look to make further additions to the first-team squad.
Bergvall’s name was initially mentioned during discussions with the Tottenham hierarchy over the sale of Sandro Tonali, with the north London club looking to move on the Sweden international this summer.
Rather than Newcastle tabling a formal bid for Bergvall, it is understood the possibility of a deal for the midfielder was again raised in talks last week, with Newcastle officials expressing an interest in a possible transfer and suggesting they would be willing to go to around £46m for a player who has made 78 senior appearances for Spurs, scoring two goals, since signing from Djurgarden for around £8.5m in February 2024.
Spurs chiefs indicated a bid at that level would be rejected, bringing conversations with Newcastle’s executive team to an end.
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There is still scope for the Magpies to table a higher bid in an attempt to force through a deal, but sources suggest there is currently no appetite on Tyneside for that to happen.
Nottingham Forest have also been involved in a series of discussions over Bergvall, and the feeling amongst Newcastle officials is that Spurs are trying to drum up as much interest as possible in an attempt to spark a bidding war.
Having missed out on Johan Manzambi, whose move to Aston Villa from Freiburg was confirmed at the end of last week, Newcastle continue to prioritise the purchase of a new midfielder, with a number of targets ‘on the table’. Preliminary discussions are understood to have taken place with at least two different midfielders, with Magpies officials hopeful of making significant progress in the next couple of days.
They thought they had secured a deal for Manzambi a couple of weeks ago, but the Switzerland international opted to move to Villa Park after Aston Villa rushed through a move of their own following a cruciate injury to midfielder Amadou Onana.
Manzambi had agreed the personal terms of a planned move to St James’ Park, but admits the lure of Champions League football with Villa was sufficient to persuade him to reject Newcastle’s interest.
“I’m very excited to play in Villa Park,” said Manzambi. “I am very, very happy and I am excited to play with this club.
“It’s a very big club in England, and they’re playing in the Champions League. I’ve already played against Aston Villa, and for me, it was the perfect plan. I hope I can play the same as in the World Cup and with Freiburg. I’m sure that with the team, the coach and the staff that I can do the same.
“I’m very excited. I could see on the pitch that he was a very good trainer. I’m very excited to be here and to be training with Unai Emery and the team.”
Newcastle began their pre-season programme yesterday without Fabian Schar, Tino Livramento and Lewis Miley, who are completing their respective recoveries from the injuries that ruled them out towards the end of last season.
Eddie Howe fielded completely different line-ups for the two halves of the game, with Newcastle scoring two goals before the break as they fielded their strongest line-up featuring the likes of Nick Pope, Sven Botman, Lewis Hall, Joe Willock, Will Osula and new signing Steur.
Willock opened the scoring in the 29th minute, turning home from close range following a cross from Jacob Murphy, with Osula adding a second from the penalty spot six minutes later after Willock had been fouled by Ben Hedley.
The second half line-up saw Jaouen make his first appearance in Newcastle colours following his summer move from Reims alongside a host of youngsters.
Sean Neave, who made his breakthrough into the senior ranks last season, scored the Magpies’ third goal with a low finish following a strong run through the Darlington defence.
Newcastle play their first public pre-season game next weekend when they make the short trip to Gateshead on Saturday lunchtime.
Newcastle (first half): Pope, Shahar, A Murphy, Botman, Hall, Ramsey, Willock, Steur, Murphy, Osula, Barnes.
Newcastle (second half): Jaouen, M Miley, Pivas, Craggs, Charlton, Finneran, Munda, Neave, Sanusi, Seung-soo, Salia.