Newcastle United may have concluded their headline transfer of the summer so far on Wednesday, yet the club aim to end the window by making at least one further eye-catching offensive addition.Nico Gonzalez completed his move from Manchester City for an initial £48million ($65.3m), but Lille’s Matias Fernandez-Pardo, Bilal El Khannouss of Stuttgart and a shortlist of other attackers are being worked on ahead of Tuesday’s deadline.A further signing beyond a forward is not being entirely ruled out, and there should be exits, too.Matthias Jaissle, the new head coach, declared on Wednesday he is “pushing every day” for further reinforcements, while “very active” is how one Newcastle source, speaking anonymously so they could talk freely about club strategy, describes their present transfer-market status.This is what Newcastle still need to do in the four days before the window closes.Which position(s) are Newcastle looking to strengthen?Their primary focus is on bringing in at least one attacker.The description “attacker” sounds vague but that is intentional, as Newcastle are looking at offensive targets who play in subtly different positions or have varying profiles as players. Versatile forwards who can play anywhere on the front line, wingers, No 10s and out-and-out striker targets exist, though Newcastle have a small shortlist of players across those positions they are looking at.Jaissle has his eye on some attacking additions (Stu Forster/Getty Images)Beyond creative players, Jaissle has identified centre-back as a position in which pace is required moving forwards. As things stand, however, the prospect of another central defender joining is low, even despite Dan Burn, the new club captain, being sidelined until after the September/October international break.Recruiting another full-back does not appear to be in Newcastle’s immediate thinking, especially given newcomer Amar Dedic’s excellent start to life on Tyneside, despite having only three senior wide defenders.Do we know who they are aiming to sign?Yes. Well, two of the names at least — Fernandez-Pardo and El Khannouss.Newcastle sources insist there are more — although not many more — and that concurrent negotiations are taking place for multiple players.The primary target is Fernandez-Pardo, who Newcastle have been aggressive in pitching their project to. The Belgium international is a long-term target, with Eddie Howe previously a keen admirer of a forward who has stylistic similarities to a young Anthony Gordon.Interestingly, the 21-year-old was top of Newcastle’s shortlist in the spring but, once they failed to qualify for Europe, they were given the impression Fernandez-Pardo was unattainable. Yet they have subsequently felt enough encouragement that the athletic and adaptable winger-cum-forward would still be willing to join that they have re-entered the race.
Upgrading Newcastle’s attack: Where are they looking to strengthen? Who do they want to sign?
Newcastle have had a busy window already but want to add at least one more attacking player before the deadline on Tuesday















