Newcastle United are preparing a bid for Championship target Federico Fernandez, according to journalist Alan Nixon.

The 29-year old Argentine had emerged as a possible loan target for Rafa Benitez's side following Swansea's relegation to the Premier League, but Nixon reports that any swoop for him will be 'a buy' rather than a loan.

Newcastle have already tried to loan the player this summer, but were told the price was £10m.

Fernandez has been at the Liberty Stadium since 2014, joining for €10 million from Italian side Napoli. He's gone on to appear in 126 competitive fixtures for the Swans, scoring twice with 116 of those matches being Premier League starts.

Upon relegation he declared he still wanted to play football as high as he could, prompting interest from Newcastle. There's also been Russian Premier League interest in his services, but with little over 24 hours of the transfer window left he's still a Championship player.

Fernandez started Swansea's opening day win at Bramall Lane, playing all 90 minutes as the Swans ran out 2-1 victors.

The Verdict

If he's going, Graham Potter will want it done quickly in order to ensure he can spend any money coming in.

With the situation at Newcastle up in the air, surely they won't be forking out a big sum of money for the defender, so perhaps a move to Russia will be best all round, Swansea will get the maximum fee they can whilst Fernandez won't be walking into a club in melt down, again.