NEWCASTLE UNITED are hoping to push through a deal for Matt Ritchie within the next 24 hours after Crystal Palace formally triggered the £10.5m release clause in Andros Townsend’s contract.

And in what is proving to be a hectic few days for the Magpies, Fabricio Coloccini’s departure should also be confirmed soon, with the former skipper having travelled to Argentina to discuss a possible move to San Lorenzo.

Ritchie is due on Tyneside later this evening to complete a medical and finalise the personal terms of a proposed £12m move from Bournemouth, with Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez clearly determined to do as much of his squad restructuring as possible prior to the start of the new Championship season.

The Magpies confirmed the £4.5m capture of goalkeeper Matz Sels on Wednesday, and have also completed the £10m signing of striker Dwight Gayle from Crystal Palace. That deal should be formally confirmed shortly.

Gayle is expected to link up with his new team-mates when the majority return to Newcastle’s Longbenton training base for the start of pre-season training tomorrow.

The 25-year-old has spent today completing the formalities of his move from Selhurst Park, and with Aleksandar Mitrovic set to sit out the first four games of next season through suspension, he will get an early chance to establish himself as Newcastle’s main centre-forward.

The Northern Echo:

He could be joined in the starting line-up for the Magpies’ opening game of the new campaign at Fulham by Ritchie, with the Scotland international on the verge of completing his own move to Tyneside.

Ritchie is understood to be travelling to the North-East tonight, with Bournemouth having accepted Newcastle’s £12m offer for his services.

He will be a direct replacement for Townsend, who is set to sign a five-year contract with Crystal Palace within the next 24 hours.

Benitez, who is also hoping to sign a centre-half within the next seven days, held a number of face-to-face discussions with Townsend and his representatives in an attempt to persuade the England winger to remain at St James’ Park, but his efforts were always likely to prove futile.

Having insisted on the inclusion of a relegation release clause in the contract he signed when he left Tottenham, Townsend was always likely to trigger his exit if a Premier League club tabled a £10.5m offer.

Palace were one of a number of clubs to outline their interest, and the lure of a return to London has proved impossible to resist. Townsend will complete a medical at Palace tomorrow and should be confirmed as Alan Pardew’s latest acquisition before the end of the weekend.

He will not be the only high-profile player leaving Tyneside this summer, with Georginio Wijnaldum and Moussa Sissoko also expected to move on before the transfer window closes at the end of August.

Wijnaldum has been the subject of sustained interest from Italian club Roma, while Sissoko’s stock has risen significantly as a result of his impressive performances for France at Euro 2016. Newcastle officials privately expect to lose both players, but are hoping to receive more than £30m from their sale.

Tim Krul could also move on if he proves his fitness within the next month-and-a-half, while Ayoze Perez is the subject of mounting interest from a number of clubs in Spain.

Coloccini’s departure should be confirmed shortly, with the centre-half finally set to achieve his long-held ambition of a return to his homeland.

The Northern Echo:

The financial details of his departure are still to be confirmed, but with San Lorenzo unlikely to be able to afford the £70,000-a-week Coloccini was receiving on Tyneside, Newcastle might well have reached a financial settlement to effectively cancel the remaining 12 months of the 34-year-old’s contract.

Benitez is looking forward to welcoming back the bulk of his squad tomorrow, and will spend the next few weeks attempting to mould the tactical approach he intends to adopt in the Championship.

He will also oversee a number of sessions designed to remind his players of the responsibilities that go along with wearing the black-and-white shirt.

“I expect to have a very good pre-season,” said Benitez, in an interview with Newcastle's official website. “Normally, because they are professional, they’ll come back fit. We’ll try to improve the fitness of the players, but also their understanding of our ideas and the way that we want to play, and try to work as a unit, as a team.

“After that, we’ll try to give them a little bit of what it means to be at this club, what it means to be a player here. Now, we have to show all these things in the Championship.

“They have to realise that we have massive support from the city – not just from the people in the stadium, but from the city. We have to do really well to match these expectations.”