STEVE BRUCE is confident of being able to tie up a deal for Danny Rose this summer, but Valentino Lazaro and Nabil Bentaleb face a battle to persuade the Newcastle United boss to offer them a permanent move to Tyneside.

Rose joined on a loan deal from Tottenham in January, and has accepted his long-term future lies away from north London.

He has made ten appearances for the Magpies, and has impressed Bruce with his commitment and professionalism in the last six months.

The Newcastle boss is understood to have discussed Rose’s position with the current hierarchy at St James’ Park, and while the Magpies’ summer transfer business will be heavily influenced by the outcome of Amanda Staveley’s ongoing Saudi Arabia-backed attempts to complete a takeover, there is a determination to sign the 30-year-old no matter what.

Negotiating a fee with Tottenham will not be easy as Rose still has one more year of his Spurs contract to run and Daniel Levy is renowned for being a tough negotiator. If Mike Ashley remains in charge, Bruce will also have to persuade the current Newcastle owner that is worth paying a transfer fee and committing a significant sum in wages to a player who entered his 30s at the start of this month.

However, there is confidence that a deal can be agreed, with Rose’s enjoyment of his time on Tyneside expected to play a key role in any future discussions. Newcastle will not be the only club interested in the full-back, but Rose has indicated a strong preference for remaining with the Magpies.

Lazaro and Bentaleb are also considering their long-term futures, but at this stage, neither is guaranteed to be offered a permanent stay in the North-East.

Lazaro has had his moments since joining on loan from Inter Milan, most notably when he came off the bench to score an excellent goal in Newcastle’s 4-1 win at Bournemouth, but he has struggled to hold down a place in Bruce’s starting line-up and was disappointing as the Magpies were thrashed at Manchester City on Wednesday night.

If Inter are to sell the 24-year-old, they will almost certainly demand a fee of around €20m given that was the figure mentioned as a possible buyout clause, and Newcastle would be reluctant to spend such a sum on a squad player.

Schalke have indicated they are willing to sell Bentaleb this summer, but like Lazaro, the Algerian has failed to cement a starting spot since joining in January. With one more year on his Schalke contract, he is unlikely to command a sky-high fee, but Bruce might well conclude he would rather spend his money elsewhere.

Bentaleb started at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday alongside Jonjo Shelvey and Fabian Schar, with his presence in the starting line-up helping keep Matty Longstaff on the substitutes’ bench.

The younger of the two Longstaff brothers remains locked in a bitter contract dispute that looks like seeing him move on at the end of the season, potentially to Italian side Udinese, but while Bruce admits to being frustrated at the ongoing stand-off, he insists that is not the reason why the midfielder is still to start a game since the end of lockdown.

“Matty’s only been training for the last week,” said Bruce, in the wake of Wednesday’s thrashing. “So, I thought it was a big call for him, to get him started.

“I wanted to have Fab Schar (in the team). He’s been playing in midfield (on) the training ground and I wanted to have a look at that. We can talk about formations and this, that and the other, and players playing where they were playing – I thought those two (Schar and Emil Krafth) were arguably our best performers.”