HARVEY BARNES should be confirmed as a Newcastle United player before the weekend, enabling him to make a swift journey to the United States to meet up with his new team-mates.

Barnes is spending today on Tyneside as he looks to complete the final formalities of his proposed move from Leicester City.

Newcastle officials agreed a fee of around £38m for the 25-year-old midfielder on Wednesday evening after negotiations rapidly picked up pace as parallel discussions relating to Allan Saint-Maximin’s anticipated switch to Saudi Arabian club Al-Ahli also gathered momentum.

Barnes was given permission to travel to the North-East, and is due to undergo a medical today as well as finalising the personal terms of his move from Leicester. He was taken on a tour of St James’ Park before heading to Newcastle’s Darsley Park training ground.

Provided there are no unforeseen issues in the next 24 hours, his transfer should be completed and confirmed before the end of the weekend, at which point he will immediately board a flight to the United States.

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

READ MORE:

The Magpies’ opening match against Villa takes place in the very early hours of Monday morning UK time, and it is not anticipated that Barnes will play any part in that game. However, while he was not named on the initial squad list for the tournament, he could feature in the Chelsea and Brighton games in order to accelerate his integration into the squad ahead of the start of the Premier League season.

Saint-Maximin’s move to Al-Ahli could also be completed before the start of next week, with Newcastle set to receive a fee of around £30m for the French winger.

Having been absent when Newcastle claimed a 2-1 friendly win over Rangers at Ibrox on Tuesday, Saint-Maximin was not part of the group that flew to the US.