STEVE McCLAREN has warned Newcastle United they will have to pay "stupid money" to sign leading transfer target Luuk de Jong.

A senior Magpies delegation featuring managing director Derek Llambias and secretary Lee Charnley travelled to Holland yesterday to meet officials at FC Twente.

The Magpies' initial bid of around £6.5m was rejected earlier this month, with Twente understood to be valuing de Jong, a Dutch international who was part of Bert van Marwijk's squad at the European Championships, at closer to 15m Euros.

The two clubs remain a long way apart, but with German side Borussia Monchengladbach also having tabled a formal offer, the Newcastle hierarchy are keen to push through a deal as quickly as possible.

They are willing to increase their initial valuation in order to land de Jong, but still require Twente to accept much less than they had initially hoped to receive for the 21-year-old.

McClaren does not expect that to happen, and while the Twente boss had previously conceded he might struggle to keep the striker this summer, he is now hopeful of retaining his club's leading goalscorer.

"The club knows how I feel about Luuk," said the former Middlesbrough and England boss. "He will remain with us unless stupid money is offered.

"He has only been playing as our lead striker since the end of last season, but he must have at least one full season as a striker for us before he can move to another club."

It remains to be seen how far Newcastle are willing to go in order to sign Alan Pardew's number one attacking target, but the fact Llambias and Charnley were willing to travel to Holland yesterday suggests they are determined to strike a deal.

While a fee is still to be agreed, they are hoping to receive permission to kick off personal discussions with de Jong and his representatives in order to speed up any future transfer.

Sources in Holland claim de Jong is keen to leave the Eredivisie as he feels he has achieved all he can with Twente and is likely to increase his earnings if he moves elsewhere.

However, he has not expressed a strong preference between England and Germany, and Borussia Monchengladbach officials are also poised to hold further negotiations in an attempt to lure him to the Bundesliga.

Monchengladbach's initial offer is understood to have been slightly higher than Newcastle's, but Mike Ashley's willingness to pay all transfer fees in one up-front payment could yet prove crucial.

As well as discussing de Jong's situation at yesterday's meeting, the Newcastle delegation also raised the possibility of signing Douglas, a long-term defensive target.

The Magpies had previously conceded defeat in their pursuit of the Brazilian centre-half, who has one year of his contract remaining after Twente took up an option of extending his previous deal by 12 months.

However, Douglas missed the start of pre-season training and gave an interview in Holland in which he suggested he was looking for a route out of Twente.

Unsurprisingly, his conduct has not gone down well with Twente officials, and Newcastle will rekindle their interest if they feel they can land the South American for a knockdown fee.

Ideally, Pardew would like to sign two full-backs this summer, but with his pursuit of Mathieu Debuchy stalling as Lille continue to haggle over a fee, he could be persuaded to recruit Douglas and reassess his defensive options.

Meanwhile, Newcastle will be without Papiss Cisse for the majority of their pre-season programme as the striker is set to be confirmed in Senegal's squad for the Olympic Games.

Senegal's under-23 squad will be joined by three over-age players next week, and Cisse is expected to be one of the senior players selected.

Senegal will hold a pre-Olympic training camp in Spain next month, and will face Team GB in their opening match of the Games at Old Trafford on Thursday, July 26.