NEWCASTLE UNITED have agreed the terms of a loan deal with Nottingham Forest for Chris Wood, with their Premier League rivals hoping to complete the formalities of the move before tomorrow lunchtime to enable them to select the striker in their squad for Saturday’s game with Bournemouth.

Newcastle officials have held a series of talks over Wood in the last few days, and have now reached an agreemnt with their counterparts at the City Ground that will see the 31-year-old become a Forest player.

The New Zealander will initially join Forest on a loan basis to the end of the season, but the deal will become a permanent transfer in the summer provided a number of pre-agreed conditions are met.

Newcastle shelled out £25m to sign Wood from Burnley last January, but there is an acceptance amongst the club’s recruitment team that they will not be able to recoup their initial outlay.

Eddie Howe is willing to allow Wood to move on now Alexander Isak has returned to the first-team squad and proved his fitness, with the Sweden international set to challenge Callum Wilson for a place in the Magpies’ starting side in the second half of the season.

Wood has only started four league games this term, and while he has proved a valuable squad member since moving from Turf Moor, he is keen to play as much football as possible as his career enters its twilight phase.

He expressed a willingness to move to Forest, who currently sit in 13th position in the Premier League table, five points clear of the relegation zone. However, he cannot play in Forest’s Carabao Cup semi-final with Manchester United as he has already played for Newcastle in this season’s competition.

%image('15844060', type="article-full", alt="Chris Wood is leaving Newcastle United to join Nottingham Forest")

Wood is now set to travel to the Midlands to undergo a medical and complete the formalities of his switch.

Ideally, Forest boss Steve Cooper would like to have the deal completed before lunchtime tomorrow as that would make Wood eligible to face Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.

Cooper has opted to move for Wood as Forest have lost Taiwo Awoniyi to an injury that is expected to keep him sidelined for two months, and he does not appear to have any faith in either Emmanuel Dennis or Sam Surridge, who have been bit-part players so far this season.