Newcastle close in on £50m-plus deal for Wissa

Newcastle are closing in on an agreement for Brentford forward Yoane Wissa worth more than £50m, a day after he urged the Bees to "keep their word" and let him leave.

Brentford have already rejected two offers for the the DR Congo international this summer - with the latest being £35m guaranteed plus £5m in add-ons.

It comes after Liverpool agreed a British transfer record fee of £125m to sign Newcastle striker Alexander Isak.

Magpies boss Eddie Howe is desperate to strengthen his forward line, despite completing the club record signing of striker Nick Woltemade from Stuttgart on a six-year contract last week.

Wissa, 28, issued a statement on Sunday publicly confirming he wanted to leave and accusing Brentford of "unduly standing in his way" of a move to Newcastle.

In a statement on Instagram, Wissa said: "I have stayed silent for much of the summer, but with just hours remaining of the transfer window I feel compelled to make it clear that I want to leave Brentford.

"I believe the club are unduly standing in my way despite a series of fair offers throughout the summer."

Brentford and Newcastle reopened talks about the DR Congo forward on Monday in an attempt to conclude a deal before the 19:00 BST deadline.

The Bees sold forward Bryan Mbeumo to Manchester United for an initial £65m earlier in the window.

Goalkeeper Mark Flekken has also left to join Bayer Leverkusen for £8m, while midfielder Christian Norgaard moved to Arsenal in a £15m deal.

Last month, Brentford completed a club record deal of up to £42.5m for forward Dango Ouattara from Bournemouth.