Steve Bruce is keen to sign injury-prone Everton duo James McCarthy and Yannick Bolasie once he is appointed as the new Newcastle United manager, according to 90min.
The current Sheffield Wednesday head coach is widely seen to be the leading candidate to take up the vacant St James’ Park hot seat, which has been unoccupied since June 30 when Rafa Benitez’s Toon contract expired having failed to reach an agreement with Mike Ashley.
Bruce has also reportedly resigned from his duties at Hillsborough in a bid to fast track his move to Tyneside, as the 58-year-old is fully aware that the clock is ticking on a transfer window that closes on August 8 at 17:00.
Among the former Aston Villa boss’s believed targets are Bolasie and McCarthy, two players he attempted to sign last summer while still in charge of the Birmingham-based outfit that had just lost the Play-Off Final to Fulham.
Bruce managed to add Bolasie to his ranks on loan, but Everton boss Marco Silva denied his request for McCarthy. However, the Republic of Ireland international is now understood to be on the market after making just one appearance for the Merseyside club following his return from injury.
Injuries have plagued the defensive midfielder’s career at Goodison Park, with McCarthy last making more than five Premier League appearances in a single season back in the 2016/17 term, when the 28-year-old featured 12 times in a campaign brought to a premature end with a hamstring strain.
The following term saw the 41-cap international feature just four times in the top-flight thanks to blows to his knee and hamstring and later a tibia and fibula fracture suffered at the hands of Salomon Rondon.
The double leg break meant McCarthy was not fit to play again until the start of 2019, but Silva would only offer the FA Cup winner with Wigan Athletic a 14-minute outing in April following a string of appearances on the Blues’ bench.
Bolasie has likewise been a regular of the Everton medical room during his tenure on Merseyside, as the 30-year-old winger missed more than a year between December 2016 and 2017 with a cruciate ligament rupture.
He began to rekindle some of his lost form last season between his loan spells with Villa and RSC Anderlecht – striking eight goals and penning eight assists in 38 games – and is believed to have a £10million release clause in his £75,000-a-week contract that became active this summer.
McCarthy, too, is thought to be the subject of a £10million asking price as Everton look to part-ways with the £50,000-a-week defensive midfielder having signed Andre Gomes and Fabian Delph on permanent deals.