Newcastle United sporting director Dan Ashworth was in attendance at St Mary's Stadium last night - with talks to sign Anthony Gordon parked for the night after an intense day of negotiations.
The Magpies are trying to establish a price tag for the 21-year-old with Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur still thought to be interested in his signature. As reported by Chronicle Live last night, United are keen to see how genuine the interest from the Blues is before the talks reach the advanced and final bid stages.
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Gordon was not present at Everton's training ground today and while the Toffees maintained a code of silence there was also no denial from the top at Goodison Park. In previous windows, talk of Gordon to Newcastle and Chelsea has been played down.
Only last week then Everton boss Frank Lampard spoke of his will to hold to the Kirkdale-born player. But now it will boil down to the fee and the structure of the deal - something that has dented his chances of an exit.
The £60million demand that Everton spoke about last summer is now highly unlikely but a structured deal between £35m-£40m could be on the cards. To add to the confusion the Toffees are without a manager but the Merseyside club know they must quickly get on with transfer business with the threat of the drop hanging over them.
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