NEWCASTLE UNITED should wrap up the signing of Harvey Barnes in the next 48 hours after agreeing a fee for the Leicester City midfielder.

A series of discussions with Leicester officials finally resulted in an agreement this evening, with the Foxes having accepted the Magpies’ offer of around £38m for the 25-year-old.

Barnes has expressed a willingness to move to St James’ Park, with the personal terms of his contract not expected to present any problems.

Provided there are no unforeseen issues with the midfielder’s medical, his transfer should be confirmed before the weekend, enabling him to travel to the United States to join up with his new team-mates.

Newcastle’s first-team squad flew to the US this morning ahead of their involvement in the Premier League Summer Series, which will see them play matches against Aston Villa, Chelsea and Brighton.

READ MORE:

It is no coincidence that the breakthrough over Barnes’ move to Tyneside came just 24 hours after Newcastle officials entered into talks with Saudi Arabian side Al-Ahli over the proposed transfer of Allan Saint-Maximin.

Saint-Maximin is set to move to the Middle East for more than £30m, with Eddie Howe admitting last night that the move was essential in order to enable Newcastle to conduct the rest of their planned summer transfer business.

Saint-Maximin was not part of the squad that travelled to the US, and his move to Al-Ahli should be completed at around the same time as Barnes’ switch to Tyneside is confirmed.

A product of Leicester’s academy, Barnes had loan spells at MK Dons, Barnsley and West Brom before breaking into the Foxes’ first team.

He has made 162 senior appearances for Leicester, but his departure from the King Power Stadium became inevitable once the Foxes were relegated to the Championship last season.

A former England Under-21 international, Barnes has won one cap for Gareth Southgate’s senior England side.