By Laura O'Leary

2nd Jul, 2018 | 11:01am

Merino exit not Newcastle priority, lack of urgency to do deal causing delay - report

Newcastle United are not in a hurry to complete a deal with Real Sociedad that will see midfielder Mikel Merino leave the club, according to a report.

Mundo Deportivo claim that the Magpies are prioritising getting other deals done so the necessary documentation to seal Merino’s exit may take time to prepare.

The Spanish publication state that with talks having taken place between the two clubs there’s no a doubt a deal will be done but that it won’t be easy for Merino to be officially made a Real Sociedad player by the time their pre-season starts on July 9.

Football Insider verdict:

Of course the Magpies won’t go out of their way to sanction Merino’s exit quicker than they have to as they no doubt would rather he stayed put. Mundo Deportivo report that even though Merino has a 12 million euro exit clause in his contract (£10.6million) the Spanish side still need the Magpies to act in order to get the right paperwork filed. While the Premier League club might need the funds to come through the door in order to boost Rafa Benitez’s transfer kitty, they clearly won’t rush into action until they get closer to finding the players they want to sign. Merino is expected to be back training with the Magpies today and it will be interesting to see pictures emerge of him from that session in order to see what his body language about still being at the club is like. The 22-year-old only rocked at St James Park last summer and given his age as well as his potential it will be a shame to see him depart the club this summer. So it’s no surprise that the Magpies are showing a lack of urgency in order for the deal to be unnecessarily delayed even if Sociedad are eager to try and speed up the process.

In other Newcastle United transfer news, the club have made a bid for Juventus’ Italian international midfielder.

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