STEVE McCLAREN last night confirmed that Georginio Wijnaldum is on the verge of a £14.5m move to Newcastle United after arriving on Tyneside from PSV Eindhoven.

But the Magpies still have work to do to complete the £13m signing of Anderlecht striker Aleksandar Mitrovic despite claims from the Serbian’s agent that he is to sign a five-year deal at St James’ Park.

McClaren took charge of his first match as Newcastle head coach at Gateshead when a Papiss Cisse penalty after six minutes proved the only difference between the two teams.

But the bigger picture is what is going on behind-the-scenes, with Newcastle in advanced negotiations on a couple of fronts and Wijnaldum’s imminent arrival could be followed by Mitrovic provided Porto do not gazump them at the 11th hour.

Wijnaldum’s move will be rubber-stamped, though, after he touched down in the North-East to undergo a medical. He stayed away from Gateshead’s International Stadium,, but there are not expected to be any further delays and he should fly to the United States with the squad on Sunday.

McClaren said: “There’s no secret. He (Wijnaldum) has been seen around the place, he’s having a medical and all the scans that go with it. Hopefully we will get the results tomorrow and we can announce something. It’s not official. It is not over the line.

“I know him very well from when I was in Holland. He was a pain at Feyenoord and for PSV against my teams. He brings great quality and can play in any position in midfield. His physicality is good, tempo is good. He will be a good player in the Premier League.”

McClaren was not prepared to talk directly about Mitrovic, but he is hopeful that further deals will go through after hearing updates from managing director Lee Charnley.

The Newcastle boss said: “We have one or two other things that are very close that we can’t really comment on because it’s fragile and sensitive as you can expect with players’ agents and deals. Certainly Lee Charnley and Graham Carr are doing their best behind the scenes to get the right deals. We have to be patient.”

Earlier in the day Mitrovic’s agent Pini Zahavi claimed: “The formalisation of the transfer will be made in the coming hours. Mitrovic will sign a contract for five seasons for the former club of Phillipe Albert.”

At this stage Wijnaldum, 24, looks the only new face likely to be on board the flight to America, although it has emerged that Remy Cabella will almost certainly miss out.

The Frenchman did not figure at Gateshead and McClaren has revealed the £12m winger might have to stay at Newcastle for treatment.

He said: “I think Remy Cabella is a doubt for America. He has picked up a knock on his thigh and we find out the results of a scan on Saturday.”

But he was pleased with the work out at Gateshead. He added: “You don’t want to see bad injuries from friendlies and we won the game by penalty. I can’t fault the staff since I have been here, in terms of everything, they have been organised down to the last minute and the players have been great. It’s all about America now.”