NEWCASTLE will take their summer spending to the £35m mark when they complete the capture of defender Chancel Mbemba before the weekend – and further additions are in the pipeline with Marseille winger Florian Thauvin still an active target.

With deals for Georginio Wijnaldum and Aleksandar Mitrovic already agreed, Mbemba will become the Magpies’ third summer signing after Newcastle triggered an exit clause in his Anderlecht contract with a bid of around £8m.

The 21-year-old centre-half, whose age was the subject of a FIFA inquiry after discrepancies emerged following his move to Belgium from his native DR Congo, is expected to arrive on Tyneside within the next 24 hours to undergo a medical and agree the details of his contract.

He could yet be joined by Thauvin, a 22-year-old winger who has been the subject of sustained interest from Newcastle’s recruitment team throughout the summer.

A number of approaches to the Marseille hierarchy have been rebuffed, with the Ligue 1 club keen to retain Thauvin after a chaotic spell that has seen them lose a spate of high-profile players including Andre Ayew, Andre-Pierre Gignac and Dimitri Payet.

Ideally, Marseille would like to keep Thauvin, who cost €15m when he moved from Lille in 2013, but Newcastle managing director Lee Charnley is hoping the player’s desire to move to the Premier League will strengthen his bargaining position.

Previous suggestions that Remy Cabella could be included as part of a deal have been downplayed by all parties, and the fact the Frenchman is nursing a thigh injury that could rule him out of the start of the season would be a further complication to any attempt to move him on.

Nevertheless, Steve McClaren will continue to champion Thauvin’s cause as he is understood to regard the forward as a potentially crucial addition.

Mbemba’s arrival is regarded as similarly significant, with the centre-half claiming that Newcastle outbid both Borussia Monchengladbach and Atletico Madrid in order to secure his services.

Having travelled to Paris two days ago in order to resolve the complications over his visa, Mbemba should be confirmed as a Newcastle player before the weekend, rejoining his former Anderlecht team-mate, Mitrovic, who completed a £12m switch to the North-East on Tuesday morning.

“I went to visit (Borussia) Monchengladbach’s facilities,” said Mbemba. “I had a good interview with their management, and the coach tried to sell it to me, but the club could not pay what Anderlecht requested. Atletico have also made an offer, but it was refused for the same reason.”

Newcastle’s bid was accepted at the start of the week, and having helped Anderlecht to the Belgian double in 2004 before testing himself in the Champions League last season, Mbemba cannot wait to showcase his skills in the Premier League.

“The transfer is not finalised yet,” he said. “There are still some details to work out, but it will go (through) and I’m proud of myself.

“I worked very hard for it to arrive and it’s a childhood dream come true. In Congo, everyone dreams of one day playing in the Premier League. In my country, it is the place to be.”

Mbemba’s agent, Fabio Baglio, will accompany his client to the North-East, and feels that Newcastle’s long-standing interest was the key to the successful resolution of the deal.

“The interest of the English does not date from yesterday,” said Baglio. “The head of scouting at Newcastle came to see Chancel during a Champions League match in Dortmund. He was impressed, and Newcastle continued to follow Chancel. Since the club had the means to the amount requested, the negotiations were quick.”

While Charnley was overseeing ongoing transfer matters yesterday, McClaren was reflecting on the completion of a US tour that finished with a 4-3 defeat to Portland Timbers in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Newcastle played three matches in the space of a week in three different American cities, and McClaren has hinted that the schedule was far from ideal at such an early stage of the pre-season schedule.

“I think it’s been a tough trip,” said the Magpies head coach. “I think we looked (against Portland) like a team who have been on the road and travelling here, there and everywhere for ten days.”

Newcastle face another game on Sunday when they travel to Bramall Lane to take on Sheffield United, and McClaren added: “They certainly made the schedule a tough one, but we have to deal with it and we will do.”

Yesterday morning’s game saw Newcastle fielding a makeshift backline because of a refusal to play Fabricio Coloccini, Mike Williamson, Steven Taylor or Jamaal Lascelles on an artificial pitch.

The Magpies started with Rolando Aarons, Shane Ferguson, Lubo Satka and Gael Bigirimana as their back four, and while they claimed an early lead through Wijnaldum’s first goal for the club, a series of defensive lapses enabled Portland to surge into a 4-1 lead.

Fatawa Safiu, Anthony Manning, Taylor Peay and Nick Besler all found the target, before Aarons pressed his claims for a starting spot on the opening weekend of the season with a quick-fire double that included a magnificent overhead kick.

“He is only a young man, but he has done very well on this trip,” said McClaren. “He started at left-back and was very good, and crossed for the first goal. We moved him forward in the second half, and he scored two cracking goals and was always a threat. He’s a bright one for the future.”

Newcastle: Darlow (Woodman 46); Bigirimana, Satka, Ferguson, Aarons; Abeid (Anita 65), Wijnaldum (Janmaat 46), Gouffran (de Jong 76), Sissoko (Obertan 46); Perez, Cisse (Armstrong 46).