EMIL KRAFTH will be confirmed as Newcastle United’s fourth summer signing today, and the Magpies are hoping to make one more addition ahead of the 5pm transfer deadline as well as waving goodbye to a number of fringe players.

Krafth successfully completed a medical at Newcastle’s Little Benton training ground yesterday after Ligue 1 side Amiens accepted an offer of around £5m.

The Swedish defender, who boasts 20 senior international caps, will compete with DeAndre Yedlin and Javier Manquillo for a starting spot at right-back.

A 25-year-old who has spent the last four years playing for Bologna and Amiens, Krafth came to Newcastle’s attention at the start of last season and has been one of the club’s key defensive targets all summer. He will train with his new team-mates for the first time this morning, and is available for Sunday’s Premier League opener against Arsenal.

His arrival completes Newcastle’s defensive rebuilding work, but Steve Bruce would ideally like to make one more attacking acquisition before the window swings shut.

A couple of overseas-based targets are still regarded as viable options, although Bruce is known to be happy at the extent of the club’s transfer activity since he was appointed as Rafael Benitez’s successor last month and will not be perturbed if no one else arrives.

Newcastle shelled out around £60m to sign Joelinton and Allan Saint-Maximin, and have also recruited left-back Jetro Willems on loan from Eintracht Frankfurt. There is still a chance they could sign free agent Andy Carroll outside of the transfer window, but provided Dwight Gayle remains on Tyneside, that is now regarded as unlikely.

While Bruce remains keen to keep Gayle despite strong ongoing interest from West Brom, he is much more willing to let a number of other players leave.

Jacob Murphy will almost certainly depart on loan today, with Sheffield Wednesday currently leading the race to land the winger on loan.

Wednesday officials spoke with Murphy and his representatives yesterday, and are increasingly confident of agreeing a deal that would see the 24-year-old move to Hillsborough for the rest of the season. However, Huddersfield Town, Derby County and Fulham have also made formal approaches, and Wednesday are also interested in Murphy’s team-mate Rolando Aarons, another player who has been told he is surplus to requirements on Tyneside.

Krafth’s arrival means Newcastle currently boast 27 senior outfield players, with Bruce only able to name 22 in his final squad list. As a result, Aarons, Jack Colback, Achraf Lazaar, Henri Saivet and Jamie Sterry have all been told they are free to leave today.

Colback had been expected to re-join Nottingham Forest, having spent last season on loan at the City Ground. Martin O’Neill’s departure as Forest boss muddied the waters somewhat, but the Northern Irishman’s successor, Sabri Lamouchi, retains an interest in the midfielder, and discussions are expected to take place this morning.

This summer’s transfer activity has taken place amid a backdrop of simmering supporters’ discontent over Mike Ashley’s running of the Magpies.

A number of supporters’ groups have joined together to advocate a boycott of Sunday’s home game, but Matt Ritchie has questioned whether their actions are in the club’s best interests.

Speaking on talkSPORT, Ritchie controversially defended Ashley’s actions since the end of last season, and suggested that dissent in the stands had a negative effect as Newcastle’s players battled to try to retain their Premier League status last season.

“I don’t understand the unrest – I’ve got to be honest,” said Ritchie. “The club’s gone out, spent money. We’re pushing, trying to compete with the teams we can compete with. You have to be real.

“To compete at the top of the Premier League now is mega, mega money. I think the owner has been honest in his interviews in the press and said he can’t go and compete with them. He’s been upfront about that, and to do that he’d have to sell the club.

“For me, we have to all be in this together. I’ve said this since I arrived at the football club - there’s always been a little bit of unrest - but the main thing I took from Bournemouth, and it’s a smaller club I know, but everyone was pulling in the same direction with the same philosophy, mentality and desire to help one another.”