Newcastle close in on Nico Gonzalez as City's midfield exodus continues this summer

Newcastle United are edging closer to signing Nico Gonzalez from Manchester City as the Premier League club seek an experienced midfield replacement following Bruno Guimaraes’ £75m departure to Arsenal and Sandro Tonali’s £100m move to Tottenham.

While no fee has yet been agreed between the two clubs for the Spanish midfielder, there is a growing expectation that a deal will be reached. Gonzalez, 23, joined City from Porto in January 2025 for £49m and has made 59 appearances, scoring four goals — but was left as an unused substitute during Sunday’s 2-1 win over Bournemouth, with centre-back Marc Guehi deployed in midfield instead.

His likely exit would make him the latest departure in a sweeping Manchester City midfield overhaul this summer. Bernardo Silva, Tijjani Reijnders, and Rodri have already left the Etihad Stadium, while City have simultaneously agreed a deal with Lille for Ayyoub Bouaddi in a move that could cost up to £85m. With Savinho also set to join Tottenham for £85m and talks ongoing with Spurs over Omar Marmoush, City could raise close to £300m in sales across the window.

Newcastle had previously considered Joao Palhinha and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg before turning their attention to Gonzalez as a more experienced option. The club have already brought in two younger midfielders — 18-year-old Sean Steur and 20-year-old Aladji Bamba, both of whom made their debuts against Liverpool on Sunday.

New head coach Matthias Jaissle is also seeking an additional forward but has indicated he does not feel the need to sign a centre-back, despite new club captain Dan Burn currently being sidelined through injury.