NEWCASTLE UNITED are closing in on their eighth and ninth summer singings with Nottingham Forest duo Jamaal Lascelles and Karl Darlow expected on Tyneside for medicals this afternoon.

The Magpies have been tracking Lascelles for some time having had an initial offer rejected for the 20-year-old in January, but it appears Forest have accepted the talented defender is destined for the Premier League after agreeing a deal to sell him.

Lascelles will be joined at Newcastle by goalkeeper Darlow, but the pair are expected to be loaned straight back to Stuart Pearce’s Forest for the 2014/15 season.

Newcastle returned from their pre-season trip to Germany today and are next in action tomorrow night when they travel to Huddersfield Town.