New Zealand and Burnley football star Chris Wood is reportedly being chased by a rival Premier League club.
The Daily Telegraph reports Newcastle, now backed by a Saudi Arabia government-backed consortium, hope Wood will sign with them this week.
The report said Newcastle has approached the Burnley striker and were "pushing hard" to get the transfer finalised.
“The player would like to make the move across the Pennines and Newcastle will intensify their efforts to land the 30-year-old," the report said.
"Interestingly, they have not been discouraged in their pursuit so far and Wood has become one of their priority acquisitions.”
Wood has enjoyed a stellar career with Burnley since joining them in 2017 on a club-record $26 million transfer from Leeds, scoring 50 goals in 155 Premier League appearances.
In fact, Wood is part of an elite club currently having scored at least 10 goals in the last four EPL seasons, alongside superstars Harry Kane, who has 86 goals in that time, Liverpool’s Mohammed Salah (83), Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy (74), Arsenal’s Alexandre Lacazette (50) and Spurs’ Son Heung-Min (50) the only others to be in the same group.
It's not known how much Newcastle is offering but the sum will have to be impressive to sway Burnley, with both clubs sitting in the relegation zone midway through the season.
Newcastle are currently 19th in the 20-team league - one place behind Burnley - although both sides are on 11 points with just one win so far this season.
It's understood Wood is one of Burnley’s highest paid players currently, reportedly on a $5.2 million annual salary, or $100,000 per week.
That figure could increase drastically at Newcastle though with the club's new owners now some of the wealthiest in the league, having bought the struggling club for a reported $660 million last October.
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