Newcastle sign Harvey Barnes from Leicester

Harvey Barnes joins the exodus from Leicester after departure. Credit: Plumb Images

Newcastle United are close to signing Harvey Barnes and hope to reach a deal with Leicester City for the winger within the next week.

Barnes was the target of West Ham United, who were in front of the line and Aston Villa, but Newcastle were ahead of their rivals.

Newcastle are expected to make their first bid for Barnes within the next few days and the player is keen to join the League club champions.

Barnes is believed to be valued by Leicester at around £40m with Newcastle. hoping to pay closer to £35m but a deal is expected to be agreed.

West Ham's move to Barnes was delayed by Declan Rice's move to Arsenal as the London club waited to bring in the money, before formalizing their strong interest with an offer.

Villa are showing interest in Barnes, but not as quickly as Newcastle, who have made significant progress in pursuing the 25-year-old this week.< /p>

Now Newcastle are ready to make an offer. , Barnes is unlikely to turn down the chance to play in the Champions League, even if Villa or West Ham make the final move.

Newcastle were interested in signing Barnes last summer when Leicester valued him at almost 60m pounds. , and they remain interested ever since.

Manager Eddie Howe has made Barnes his top target to improve Newcastle's attacking ability ahead of next season after signing Milan midfielder Sandro Tonali.

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Barnes. scored 13 Premier League goals for Leicester last season despite the Midlands club being relegated to the Championship.

The sale of Barnes would mean Leicester would receive around £80m in in the form of transfer fees for him and James Maddison, who joined Tottenham Hotspur after their relegation.

Leicester have signed Conor Cody and Harry Winks and are interested in Swansea striker Joel Piro, who has also been linked to Everton.