Newcastle try to temp Palace with swap offer

Newcastle have offered Chancel Mbemba to Crystal Palace in a bid to complete the transfer of Andros Townsend.

According to a report in The Sun Rafa Benitez has sanctioned the availability of Mbemba to speed up a deal to return Townsend to St James Park.

Discussions have been on and off over Townsend for a month with Crystal Palace wanting a cash sale while Newcastle would prefer a loan deal.

Complicating the issue is a £3m payment that Palace are due to make to Newcastle and the possible transfer of Wilfried Zaha to Spurs.

Benitez has made Townsend his top target since the transfer window opened with the player indicating that he’d be happy to return to the north east.

Sam Allardyce has had a frustrating time trying to reshape his squad and is believed to be switching attention to swap deals after finding a number of transfer offers breaking down for various reasons.