West Brom back in for Rodriguez
West Bromwich Albion are making a fresh attempt to sign Jay Rodriguez from Southampton.
The striker is a long-term target for Baggies boss Tony Pulis and he can leave Saints this summer.
West Brom have reportedly resurrected a move with £12m likely to be enough to sign the England international.
Rodriguez has almost left St Mary’s in the last two windows with Watford, Hull and Sunderland all keen on him in January but Hull and Sunderland’s relegation has ruled them out of the running.
Had the 27-year-old left Southampton in January West Brom were frontrunners.
He has wanted to play regularly at Southampton but has struggled for game time since suffering a serious knee injury in 2014.
Rodriguez made 34 appearances for Saints last season but only nine were Premier League starts and he scored six times.
West Brom are looking for new firepower after relying on Salomon Rondon and Hal Robson-Kanu as their only two strikers for the majority of last season.
Saido Berahino was sold to Stoke in January but missed the first half of the season having served a drugs ban and being ruled unfit by the club.
Newcastle near Lejeune signing
Newcastle are hopeful of completing a deal for Eibar defender Florian Lejeune within days.
The Magpies have been locked in negotiations with the LaLiga outfit for some time over the 26-year-old Frenchman, who has an £8.7 million (Dh40.5m) release clause in his contract.
However, sources on Tyneside have indicated that they are close to reaching an agreement which would hand manager Rafael Benitez his first summer signing.
Former Auxerre and Villarreal central defender Lejeune signed for Manchester City in July 2015, but was loaned straight out to Spanish second division side Girona, where he had spent the previous campaign, also on loan.
He joined Eibar on a permanent deal for just £1.2m 12 months later and made 34 league appearances last season as the club finished in 10th place.
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