NEWCASTLE UNITED’S January transfer hopes were left in tatters last night as Feyenoord called off negotiations over Nicolai Jorgensen a matter of hours after Daniel Sturridge turned down a move to St James’ Park in order to join West Brom.

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Rafael Benitez’s warnings about the difficulty of conducting business in the final week of the transfer window have proved prophetic, while it could be argued that Newcastle’s attempts to land the new striker that is so essential to their survival bid have simply been pathetic.

The transfer window does not close until 11pm tomorrow, so there is still time for the Magpies to pull something out of the fire. However, they are fast running out of targets, with Feyenoord adamant they will no longer listen to offers for Jorgensen having set a deadline of 6pm last night for Newcastle to meet their €25m asking price for the Denmark international.

Feyenoord officials have consistently maintained they would not entertain selling Jorgensen for less than €25m, and two Newcastle bids were swiftly rejected last week when they failed to come close to that figure.

Newcastle’s second bid is understood to have been worth around £15m, with both Lee Charnley and Mike Ashley adamant they would not be drawn into a bidding war for Jorgensen, even though he was Benitez’s preferred target from the start of the month.

Ashley pledged to support his manager when takeover talks with Amanda Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners group broke down earlier this month, but Newcastle’s transfer record remains the £16m that was paid to sign Michael Owen almost 13 years ago, and there is now very little chance of that being broken this month.

Feyenoord boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst selected Jorgensen for his side’s weekend win over Den Haag, and will now be naming the striker in his squad for tomorrow’s KNVB Cup quarter-final with PSV Eindhoven.

That game is one of the biggest of Feyenoord’s season, and van Bronckhorst was adamant he did not want his side’s preparations to be affected by the ongoing speculation surrounding Jorgensen.

Charnley was told he had until yesterday evening to come up with an improved offer, but the deadline passed without Newcastle tabling a third bid.

Earlier in the day, the Magpies hierarchy thought they had reached an agreement over Sturridge, and Benitez even spoke to the England international in person in an attempt to persuade him to move to the North-East.

Sturridge has been desperate to leave Liverpool as he knows he needs to be playing regular football in the final four months of the season if he is to secure a place in the England squad for this summer’s World Cup finals, but presented with a straight choice between West Brom and Newcastle, he chose to move to the Hawthorns. He travelled to West Bromwich yesterday afternoon, and was confirmed as a Baggies player last night, enabling him to play in tomorrow’s game at Manchester City.

Geography played a key part in his decision, as he was born in Birmingham and still has a number of family members in the city. However, sources in the Midlands claim he also regards West Brom as a more attractive footballing proposition, even though the Baggies are currently three points below Newcastle in the Premier League table.

With two potential deals having collapsed in the space of a few hours, Newcastle are rapidly running out of viable targets ahead of tomorrow’s 11pm deadline.

Leicester’s Kelechi Iheanacho is a potential option, although the Foxes will be reluctant to loan a player who scored two goals in Saturday’s FA Cup fourth-round victory over Peterborough United. Similarly, while Watford were willing to listen to offers for their captain, Troy Deeney, at the start of the transfer window, they will hardly be keen to lose one of their most influential players with the deadline now less than two days away.

Islam Slimani could be a last-minute alternative, although Leicester are still looking to sell the Algerian rather than allow him to leave the King Power Stadium on loan, with Ligue 1 club Monaco interested.

As things stand, Kenedy remains Newcastle’s only January addition, and having completed a season-long loan move from Chelsea, the Brazilian admits it is time he started turning his abundant potential into something more concrete.

The 21-year-old was regarded as one of the most exciting prospects in South American football when he left Fluminense to join Chelsea in the summer of 2015, but he has managed just 13 senior starts for the Blues in all competitions in the last two-and-a-half years.

He is set to make his Newcastle debut in tomorrow’s Premier League game with Burnley, and is determined to make a positive impression in the final four months of the season.

“It’s a really important time in my career, and I hope I can do my best,” said Kenedy, who was speaking via an interpreter. “I’m here to learn, fulfil my potential, and show that it’s not just potential, but I can do a lot of things in the future.”

Kenedy’s loan deal does not contain a clause for a permanent transfer in the summer, but having failed to make a breakthrough at Stamford Bridge, the versatile left footer admits he is open to the idea of making a full-time switch to Tyneside if things go well in the next few months.

“I will be doing my best because this is a big opportunity,” he said. “I want to grab this opportunity and all that comes with it. My head is here now, my mind is with Newcastle. I will play here, do my best, and then after that we will see if I stay here or go back. But at the moment, my head is here.”