By David Ornstein & Jacob Whitehead
Brighton & Hove Albion have agreed a fee in the region of £33million ($41.7m) for Newcastle United winger Yankuba Minteh.
Newcastle have given the 19-year-old permission to discuss personal terms with Brighton. Those talks will take place this evening (Saturday) but are not expected to be a major issue. Minteh has flown from Gambia and is preparing to undergo a medical ahead of the move.
Newcastle were seeking to sell Minteh in order to ease their difficulties with the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR). The club are leaving themselves open to a possible points deduction for next season if they fail to make sufficient sales before the June 30 reporting deadline.
The Athletic reported earlier on Saturday that Newcastle were holding talks with multiple clubs over potential deals to resolve their PSR issues. Those include discussions with Nottingham Forest over Minteh, as well as academy graduate Elliot Anderson, with winger Anthony Elanga potentially heading to Newcastle in a separate deal.
Minteh’s desire has been to remain in the Premier League, with the Gambia international reluctant to move to French club Lyon, who Newcastle thought they had agreed a deal with. He was also set to go to Everton with striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin heading the other way, but negotiations fell apart after Newcastle and the Englishman were unable to agree terms.
Minteh was signed by Newcastle from Danish side Odense Boldklub last summer for €7m and impressed on loan at Dutch side Feyenoord last season, registering 10 goals and six assists in 27 Eredivisie matches.
Brighton’s purchase of Minteh will set a new club record for an incoming transfer, eclipsing the £30m they paid Watford to sign Joao Pedro last summer.
