NEWCASTLE UNITED are prepared to double Nicolai Jorgensen’s wages in an attempt to lure him to St James’ Park, but Feyenoord have told the Magpies they will have to almost double their initial offer if they are to land the Denmark international.

Newcastle tabled a €14.5m bid for Jorgensen earlier this week, but their approach was immediately rejected by the Feyenoord hierarchy.

Jorgensen’s Dutch employers accept they could struggle to hold on to the 27-year-old this month, but have told Newcastle’s recruitment team they will have to pay at least €25m to secure an agreement.

Given that Newcastle’s current transfer record is the £16m they shelled out to sign Michael Owen in 2005, there would be appear to be very little chance of Mike Ashley agreeing to spend almost £22m on Jorgensen ahead of next Wednesday’s transfer window.

Newcastle managing director Lee Charnley is understood to be preparing an improved offer for the former Copenhagen striker, and Ashley has pledged to support Rafael Benitez in this month’s transfer window following the collapse of protracted takeover discussions with Amanda Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners group.

However, having initially valued Jorgensen at less than £14m, it would be a radical departure from Charnley’s previous negotiating strategy if he was to suddenly increase his bid by around £8m.

Benitez settled on Jorgensen as his number one attacking target after his head of scouting, Steve Nickson, delivered a series of glowing reports. The Dane has scored seven goals in 14 Eredivisie appearances this season, having previously claimed 41 goals in 89 league starts for Copenhagen.

He is understood to be keen on a move to the Premier League, and Newcastle will hope the financial package they are prepared to offer will be a factor in any future discussions.

Jorgensen currently earns around £20,000-a-week with Feyenoord, and the Magpies are prepared to double that figure if he moves to St James’ Park.

The prospect of a 100 per cent pay rise could persuade Jorgensen and his representatives to start agitating for a move away from Holland, and it will be interesting to see whether the forward is involved in Feyenoord’s weekend game with Den Haag. He missed Wednesday’s draw with Utrecht through suspension after he was sent off during last weekend’s defeat to Ajax.

As well as pursuing Jorgensen, Newcastle are also fielding interest in Aleksandar Mitrovic, although Benitez remains adamant he will only allow the Serbian to leave if he is guaranteed to be bringing in a new striker.

Brighton tabled a £7m offer for Mitrovic at the start of the week, but the bid was immediately laughed off, with senior Newcastle officials branding it ‘derisory’.

The Magpies shelled out £14.5m to sign Mitrovic from Anderlecht, and recouping that fee is regarded as a minimum requirement if the 23-year-old is to be allowed to leave Tyneside in the next six days.

Brighton recently broke their transfer record to sign Jurgen Locadia from PSV Eindhoven for around £15m, although at least £5m of that fee is understood to be dependent on add-ons. Ashley has consistently refused to entertain similar offers, and will demand that the whole of any fee for Mitrovic is paid up front.

With a place in Serbia’s World Cup squad at stake, Mitrovic is desperate to leave Newcastle this month. He has not made a single Premier League start all season, and knows he could be frozen out of the international picture if he finds himself on the sidelines in the second half of the campaign.

He would be willing to consider a loan move in an attempt to secure regular first-team football, but Benitez has already ruled out the possibility of anybody leaving on a temporary deal.

Having already signed Kenedy on loan from Chelsea, the Magpies manager remains determined to land both a striker and a goalkeeper before the transfer window closes next Wednesday.

Sparta Prague’s Martin Dubravka remains a leading goalkeeping target, and interestingly, the Slovakia international was left out of his side’s 3-0 win over Loko Vltavin yesterday. Newcastle tried to sign Dubravka on loan last week, but Sparta are currently only interested in a permanent deal.

Meanwhile, Newcastle’s FA Youth Cup fifth-round tie at Norwich City has been confirmed for Wednesday, February 7. Newcastle’s development team have progressed to the last eight of the Premier League International Cup following yesterday’s 3-3 draw between Tottenham and Benfica.