Newcastle have reached an agreement to sign Southampton defender Tino Livramento for an initial fee of £30m which could rise to £35m with add-ons.
The right-back joined the Saints from Chelsea in 2021 to get regular game time with Reece James ahead of him in the pecking order.
The 20-year-old enjoyed a breakout debut season but saw his efforts last term curtailed by a cruciate ligament injury as he featured in only the final two Premier League games of the season.
Nevertheless, Newcastle have opted to make the youngster their third signing of the window, beating off competition from his former club who had included a £40m buy back clause in the deal that took him to St Mary's.
Livramento is set to follow Sandro Tonali and Harvey Barnes who arrived from AC Milan and Leicester City respectively at a combined cost of £94m, through the doors at St James' Park.
Eddie Howe is attempting to assemble a squad capable of dealing with the rigors of domestic and European competition after the Magpies shocked onlookers by claiming a spot in the Champions League last term.
The pricey acquisition of a player whose favoured position is the same as one of last year's best performers has already raised questions about how the youngster will be deployed.
Regardless, Livramento will be eased back into action after such a lengthy lay-off. The ACL injury he suffered in April 2022 prematurely ended what had been an impressive breakout season and consigned the England U21 international to more than a year out on the sidelines.
The defender has played just 26 minutes of competitive football in the last 16 months.
Newcastle have their penultimate pre-season outing on Saturday afternoon against Fiorentina ahead of a clash with Villarreal 24 hours later.
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