NEWCASTLE UNITED remain confident of signing Andros Townsend before the weekend, and are hoping to persuade Tottenham officials to reverse their previous decision to reject the offer of a loan deal.

Newcastle’s recruitment team have held a number of discussions with the Spurs hierarchy in the last 48 hours, and while the two clubs are still to agree the terms of a potential transfer, there remains a high degree of confidence that a deal can be completed.

Whether that is a loan deal or a permanent switch remains to be seen, with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy continuing to push for a permanent transfer while Newcastle attempt to engineer a loan agreement that would include a clause for a £12m transfer in the summer.

With Mauricio Pochettino indicating there is no prospect of Townsend returning to the first-team squad this season, the Spurs hierarchy appear to be reluctantly concluding that it might be better to loan Townsend for the next five months, provided there is a strong possibility of a permanent move going through at the end of the season.

That situation would suit Newcastle, partly because it would enable them to assess Townsend’s impact over the next few months, having already agreed a price for him come the summer, and partly because it would allow them to loan Florian Thauvin to Marseille in the hope of being able to cut their losses on the Frenchman in the summer transfer window.

Townsend played for Spurs’ development side in a 2-2 draw with Manchester City on Monday, but his appearance in that game was more about maintaining his fitness at an acceptable level than offering a potential route back into the senior fold.

“Andros is in a position where he doesn’t play too much for us,” said Pochettino. “All the players are involved in our squad, but he hasn’t played in the last months.

“The decision (about whether he leaves) is always from the club. Today, nothing is clear. I am not involved in the negotiations with the club.”

Newcastle officials are increasingly confident that a deal could be concluded before the weekend, potentially enabling Townsend to be part of the squad that will head south to take on Watford at Vicarage Road.

Townsend’s last senior appearance for Spurs came in October’s Europa League defeat to Anderlecht, but the 24-year-old is determined to return to action as quickly as possible in order to enhance his chances of staking a claim for a place in Roy Hodgson’s England squad for Euro 2016.

Once Townsend’s arrival is guaranteed, Thauvin will be given the green light to re-join Marseille for the remainder of the season.

The 22-year-old’s representatives have already held discussions with Marseille officials about the terms of the move, and Thauvin is understood to have agreed to take a wage cut in order to secure a return to the Stade Velodrome.

Despite moving to Tyneside in a much-trumpeted £12m summer move, Thauvin has not made a Premier League start since September’s 2-1 home defeat to Watford.

As well as signing Townsend, Newcastle’s recruitment team are also hoping to complete a deal for Saido Berahino this month, but their pursuit of the West Brom forward is proving much more fraught.

West Brom officials are refusing to reduce their £18m valuation of Berahino, and sources in the Midlands claim the Hawthorns board are torn about the merits of selling one of their leading assets when there is still a chance they could be drawn into the relegation battle.

The Baggies are currently six points clear of the drop zone, and while Berahino has only made eight league starts this season, he has scored three goals.

To further complicate matters, Chelsea have indicated an interest in securing the England international, and while the reigning champions have not yet tabled a formal offer, Berahino may opt to wait as long as possible in the hope of engineering a move to Stamford Bridge.

January transfers can be notoriously difficult to complete, and having previously looked certain to move to Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua, Cheick Tiote could yet find himself returning to Tyneside.

Newcastle have accepted a fee of around £8m for Tiote’s services, and the Ivory Coast international was given permission to discuss personal terms with Shanghai officials.

He flew to China to undergo a medical and complete talks, but the discussions ran into problems yesterday, with Tiote’s representatives reported to have demanded a significant increase on the midfielder’s current wages, which are understood to be around £60,000-a-week.