Magpies close to sealing loan deal for Brendan Galloway

Palace have emerged as surprise suitors for Sissoko in the wake of Yannick Bolasie’s £25m move to Everton, with former Newcastle boss Alan Pardew determined to take the France international to Selhurst Park.

Pardew has urged the Palace hierarchy to sign Sissoko as Bolasie’s replacement, although it remains to be seen whether the Eagles are willing to match the £35m asking price that Newcastle have repeatedly cited as a starting point for negotiations.

Sissoko, who has three years of his current deal remaining, has been holding out for a transfer to a Champions League club, with Juventus and Real Madrid having been linked with potential moves for his services earlier this summer.

However, with the transfer deadline now just over a fortnight away, he could find himself having to lower his sights and the opportunity to renew his relationship with Pardew is likely to make considerable appeal.

Sissoko is not expected to be involved in tomorrow’s home game with Reading, and while Benitez has consistently refused to rule out the possibility of him remaining on Tyneside beyond the end of the month, the Newcastle boss would ideally like the current uncertainty to be removed as quickly as possible.

Benitez has held a number of discussions about Galloway, and is confident of tying up a deal for the left-back, who can also play at centre-half.

Newcastle’s talks with the Everton hierarchy have been complicated by competing interest from Middlesbrough, who made an approach of their own at the end of last week. However, Everton are reluctant to loan Galloway to another Premier League club and the 20-year-old is understood to be concerned about a potential lack of action at the Riverside.

He would prefer to join Newcastle, where his arrival would enable Benitez to move Paul Dummett back to his former position of centre-half. Dummett, who is the subject of interest from Burnley and West Brom, has started at left-back in the opening two games of the season.

Galloway made his senior breakthrough last season, successfully deputising for Leighton Baines after the England international suffered a serious injury. He has made 16 senior stars for the Toffees, but Ronald Koeman does not feel he is ready for regular top-flight action and is keen for him to gain some more experience in the second tier.

Newcastle have conceded three goals in their opening two Championship outings, and while Benitez has added Grant Hanley, Ciaran Clark and Jesus Gamez to the defensive ranks this summer, the club’s creaking backline remains a major concern.

“It is not that they (Newcastle’s opponents) are creating ridiculous chances and then you cannot stop them,” bemoaned Benitez, who has watches his side suffer back-to-back defeats against Fulham and Huddersfield. “They are scoring from nothing because we are making mistakes.

“So we have to ensure we improve in defence, but also in attack too. These things we haven’t done well in the games, but normally we are doing these things well in the training sessions. Normally we know exactly what we have to do, but we haven’t done these things.”

Benitez is hoping to engineer another four or five departures before the transfer window closes, and is working on deals that could see out-of-favour duo Cheick Tiote and Henri Saivet leaving St James’ Park.

Tiote has already seen a possible move to Middle Eastern side Al-Jazira collapse this summer, but Turkish club Galatasaray are preparing an approach after failing to land Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva.

Saivet is the subject of interest from French Ligue 1 side Saint Etienne, who are hoping to set up a loan deal with the option of a permanent transfer next summer.

However, Saint Etienne are only willing to pay around half of Saivet’s current wages, which are understood to be around €50,000-a-week, and Newcastle will be extremely reluctant to agree to such a deal.

With Newcastle still to get off the mark this season, tomorrow’s game with Reading has turned into a hugely-significant occasion, and Jaap Stam is hoping to turn the mounting pressure at St James’ Park to his own side’s advantage.

Another large crowd will be anticipating a Magpies victory, but having watched Huddersfield upset the odds on Saturday, Stam is hoping Reading can spring another surprise tomorrow.

“Everybody is expecting a lot from Newcastle,” said the Royals boss. “There is a lot of pressure on them, which means that normally the other teams who are playing Newcastle can play quite freely and can make it easier for their opponent.

“They will be wanting to win their next game, which is with us, but we need to look back on their games so far this season. We’re going to go there to try and get a result.”