NEWCASTLE UNITED have been told they can sign January target Jesse Lingard for £10m when the transfer window reopens at the turn of the year.

While Eddie Howe stated last week that he did not want to spend too much time focusing on the January window, the club’s recruitment staff are busy putting together a list of potential signings.

Newcastle’s new owners will make money available, but Amanda Staveley and her advisors do not want to spend too extravagantly in their first transfer window in charge and the priority at the moment is to target potential loan signings or players approaching the end of their current deal.

Lingard falls into the latter category as he will enter the final six months of his contract at Manchester United at the turn of the year.

The attacking midfielder will not be offered a new contract at Old Trafford, so his current employers will attempt to cash in by selling him rather than allow him to leave for nothing as a free agent next summer.

However, while Manchester United were holding out for £25m when West Ham made a formal inquiry for Lingard’s services in the summer, there is an acceptance that his value has decreased considerably because of his contractual position.

The Old Trafford hierarchy will accept £10m in January, but Newcastle will have to fend off competition from a number of clubs including West Ham if they are to land the 28-year-old.

They will hope the lure of first-team football will work in their favour, with Gareth Southgate having told Lingard he has to start playing regularly if he is to have any chance of forcing his way back into the England squad for the World Cup in Qatar.

Like Lingard, Eden Hazard is hoping to kickstart his career with a January change of scenery, and with Newcastle having been linked with a move for the Real Madrid forward, ex-Belgium international Marc Degryse claims a move to St James’ Park would be ideal for his compatriot.

Hazard has only made 40 La Liga appearances since the start of the 2019-20 campaign, and Degryse, a leading Belgian pundit, feels he would benefit from a switch to Tyneside.

“Hazard has to go to a team in January where they count on him,” said Degryse. “Newcastle is ideal. All the balls will go to him. If he can keep Newcastle in the Premier League, it could give a new boost to his career.”