NEWCASTLE will seek assurances about a work permit before attempting to complete the £8m capture of defender Chancel Mbemba.

The Magpies will confirm the £12m signing of striker Aleksandar Mitrovic later today, and have also held a series of discussions with Anderlecht officials about the possible arrival of Mbemba.

However, while Mitrovic’s signing proved relatively straightforward once the Serbian striker agreed to move to the North-East, the pursuit of Mbemba is much more complicated.

The Magpies are close to agreeing a fee of around £8m for the 20-year-old defender, but his capture will not be rubber stamped until the club receive assurances about a work permit.

The Football Association changed their regulations in May, making it much harder for clubs to sign players from non-European Union countries outside the current top 50 in FIFA’s world rankings.

Mbemba is a DR Congo national, and Magpies officials are understood to be seeking clarification about how a work permit application would be treated if it was to be formally submitted at a future date.

Provided they are told their application would be successful, they are ready to enter a more formal round of talks that could result in Mbemba travelling to Tyneside to complete his transfer.

Mitrovic was in the North-East yesterday, undergoing a medical and finalising the exact details of his personal terms with Newcastle managing director Lee Charnley.

With those terms now agreed, the Serbian striker will link up with the rest of the Newcastle squad when they return from their tour of the United States later this week, and could make his first appearance for the club in Sunday’s friendly at Sheffield United.

He is set to be the Magpies’ frontline striker next season, with his arrival helping to compensate for the injury that is set to keep Emmanuel Riviere out of the opening games of the season.

Riviere left Newcastle’s tour of the US with a knee injury at the weekend, and is set to undergo surgery that will rule him out of the season opener with Southampton and potentially the majority of the club’s matches in August.

“He has been sent back home,” confirmed McClaren. “He had a scan on a knee problem. I think it’s a meniscus (problem), which needs a small operation. So he’s gone back home to get that done.”

Remy Cabella is also a major doubt for the opening weeks of the season after suffering a thigh injury that has also forced him into a bout of surgery.

Cabella, who did not travel to the United States because of the problem, posted a picture on social media yesterday showing him in a hospital bed with the message ‘Stay Strong’.

“Just before we came away, he felt something in his thigh,” said McClaren. “We won’t take risks with players, and we’ll just have to see how long that will be.”