NEWCASTLE UNITED will have to agree to a £15m deal if they are to re-sign Andros Townsend ahead of this evening’s transfer deadline.

Another day of transfer talks between Magpies officials and their counterparts at Crystal Palace failed to produce a resolution yesterday, although both clubs at least now know where the parameters lie ahead of a final day of discussions.

Having previously insisted that they did not want to loan Townsend this month, Palace officials have relented and claimed they would be willing to allow the England international to leave on a temporary basis.

However, they are adamant Newcastle will have to pay a £2m loan fee as well as agreeing to a permanent £13m transfer in the summer.

That would mean the Magpies shelling out £2m more than they received when they sold Townsend to Palace last summer, and given the 25-year-old’s failure to make an impact under Sam Allardyce, Mike Ashley is understandably reluctant to allow the Eagles to bank a profit.

Townsend is keen to return to St James’ Park, having scored four goals in 13 appearances as Newcastle crashed out of the Premier League last season.

Allardyce has informed him he does not play a central role in his plans for the remainder of the current campaign, but it remains to be seen whether the Palace hierarchy are willing to budge on their financial demands.

Rafael Benitez is scheduled to host a press conference previewing tomorrow’s Championship game with QPR this afternoon, and by that stage there is every chance that Cheick Tiote will have finally completed a permanent move away from Tyneside.

A proposed move to Sporting Gijon collapsed last week, but Tiote has held discussions with two different Turkish clubs as he looks to engineer a transfer.

Tim Krul could also be on the move today, as Ajax are willing to cancel his loan move in order to allow him to play regular first-team football in the second half of the season.

Benitez does not want Krul back on Tyneside, as he already has Karl Darlow, Matz Sels and Rob Elliot battling for a starting spot. However, Newcastle’s staff are working with Krul’s representatives to try to find a club willing to take him for the remainder of the campaign.

“When the decision was made to loan Krul, (Andre) Onana was not the first goalkeeper,” said Ajax head coach Peter Bosz. “There were doubts whether he could do it all, but he has taken his chance.

“You never know in football, if a club comes for (Krul) and he wants to go, then he goes there. I have to wait and see how that develops.”

Meanwhile, Massadio Haidara has expressed his happiness at his return to Newcastle’s first team, and expressed his hope that he will enjoy an extended run in the squad in the final three months of the season.

Haidara made his second start of the campaign when he featured in Saturday’s FA Cup fourth-round defeat to Oxford United, and while the result at the Kassam Stadium might not have gone as planned, the defender was pleased to have been involved.

“I am feeling good in myself, but I was disappointed with the result,” said Haidara. “In myself I am happy with my progress and fitness though.

“I can complete 90 minutes, I am here and I keep training and enjoying it. If the manager needs me, I am here.

“The target is promotion, it always has been.  If we could have done something in the Cup it would have been good for us.

“So we are a disappointed that we are out of the Cup, but now we must focus on the league and going up. To the fans, we are sorry, but it's about winning the league now.”