Newcastle United have agreed a fee of £32 million to recruit Southampton defender Tino Livramento, who will join fellow summer arrivals Harvey Barnes and Sandro Tonali at St James’ Park.

The England Under-21 defender appeared in just two games last season after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury in April 2022.

He came in as a substitute in Southampton’s final two games of the season, against Brighton and Liverpool.

During the 2021-22 season, Livramento participated in 32 games, 28 of which were in the Premier League. 

Eddie Howe claims he is “in the dark” about Newcastle’s pursuit of Livramento, but he likes the full-back.

At a news conference on Friday, Howe was asked if he could confirm rumours and answered, “I’m not, I’m slightly in the dark on that unfortunately.” Let’s see what happens in the following few days, but I definitely like the player.” 

Southampton turned down a £30 million approach from Newcastle for Livramento a few weeks ago. Newcastle’s signing of Livramento adds depth to Eddie Howe’s squad ahead of the new season.

Livramento, 20, joined Southampton from Chelsea in the summer of 2021 for a fee of £5 million.

An ACL injury in April 2022 cut short what had been an excellent breakout season and forced the England U21 international to miss more than a year.