By admin 
Newcastle United are expected to announce the signing of Leicester City winger Harvey Barnes, and the Magpies did their homework on the player.
Harvey Barnes had his heart set on a move to Newcastle United from the start after the Magpies pleased him with their due diligence on him.
ChronicleLive understands Barnes had serious interest from four Premier League sides, including two other big clubs, but the 25-year-old really wanted to join Newcastle. Although it was still a wrench to leave Leicester City, his boyhood club, who he had been with since the age of nine, Barnes was well-aware that Newcastle were long-time admirers after the black-and-whites first held talks with the Foxes a year ago.
As well as being attracted by Newcastle’s project, the passion of the fanbase and the chance to play in a fast, attacking side in the Champions League, Barnes was also impressed by the club’s pitch when he travelled up to Tyneside earlier this week for his medical. Barnes got the chance to look around St James’ Park and the club’s new refurbished training ground on Thursday, as his £38m move was finalised, but what particularly struck the winger was the homework Newcastle carried out on him.
ChronicleLive understands a comprehensive report was put together by the recruitment team for the board on Barnes and the club spoke to numerous figures who had previously worked with him. No stone was left unturned and that exhaustive approach blew Barnes away – showing how much time had already been invested in him – and gave the 25-year-old a flavour of the data and detail he will encounter on a daily basis at the club.
The wait for a formal announcement goes on, at a time when Newcastle are also concluding the sale of Allan Saint-Maximin to Al Ahli, but Barnes could fly out to the U.S. in the coming days to meet his new team-mates and train with them for the first time. Barnes knows it will be a step up and the new recruit will need a little time to get up to speed. Not only has Barnes not played since the final day of last season – the 25-year-old also worked away from the main group at Leicester while negotiations were ongoing.
However, this is a clinical player who, once up and running, might provide a new dimension to the team. Barnes, after all, has scored in double figures in each of his last three seasons. No other Newcastle player has achieved that accomplishment, and Callum Wilson is the only Magpies player to have scored more goals than Barnes over that time period.