Injury-Prone Siem De Jong's Newcastle Future Remains in Major Doubt

Newcastle are looking to offload injury prone Dutch midfielder Siem De Jong in the coming weeks.

As reported by HITC via the Chronicle, De Jong has been added to a list of players who have been deemed surplus to requirements by Magpies boss Rafa Benitez, particularly if a replacement can be found prior to September.

Image by Adam Samuel

The Netherlands international, a £6m purchase in 2014 by then manager Alan Pardew, has featured regularly thus far in pre-season, leading some to suggest that he would have a role to play beyond the summer transfer window.

This follows  a decent loan spell at PSV Eindhoven in the Eredivisie last season, scoring six times in 19 appearances for Phillip Cocu's side.

However, the report states that Benitez would consider offloading the 28-year-old, but this would be contingent upon the success of incoming recruitment.

Another who is officially available for transfer is goalkeeper Tim Krul, who was directly informed by Benitez of his status, while the club are also waiting for the right offers for Emmanuel Riviere and Aleksandar Mitrovic.

Newcastle have been frustrated thus far in their pursuit of Premier League quality players, with Norwich's England U21 international Jacob Murphy and Eibar defender Florian Lejeune signing for a combined £18m, while Christian Atsu made his loan from Chelsea permanent after starring in the Championship last season.

The team's most recent arrival is Spanish midfielder Mikel Merino - the 21-year-old has joined on loan following an unsuccessful season in Germany with Borussia Dortmund