Newcastle line up Austin bid

Newcastle United are lining up a £10m bid for Queens Park Rangers striker Charlie Austin, according to the Metro.

The North East club are keen on securing a deal for the England U21 international, and believe that completing such a deal could help them in their attempts to lure ex-England manager Steve McClaren from Championship promotion hopefuls Derby County.

Austin, who was playing non-league football just six years ago is on the verge of a full international call up after impressing in QPR’s fight for survival, with seventeen goals in twenty-nine Premier league appearances.

Since moving to Loftus Road from Burnley in the summer of 2013, the 25 year old has racked up sixty-seven appearances in total, scoring thirty-seven goals and his seventeen in the league last season helped them achieve promotion via the play-offs.

Austin is currently two goals behind Sergio Aguero, Diego Costa and Harry Kane in the race for the Premier League’s golden boot, and can be backed at 33/1 to win the prize.