• Fee for Paraguay midfielder believed to be around £20m • Rafael Benítez hopeful Almirón will be first January signing

Newcastle have agreed a deal in principle to sign Miguel Almirón from Atlanta United for a club-record fee believed to be around £20m.

The Paraguay midfielder is keen to move to the Premier League club, despite late interest from Napoli and Internazionale, and is expected to arrive for a medical on Wednesday or Thursday.

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There are problems to resolve, understood to include the structure of payment and bonuses. Personal terms have been agreed and Rafael Benítez is hopeful of making his first signing of the transfer window. Newcastle’s manager suffered the latest in a series of transfer setbacks when the transfer of the Lazio full-back Jordan Lukaku fell through.

The club are reported to have held talks with Benfica and Monaco over loan moves for the midfielder Andreas Samaris and the defender Antonio Barreca. Almirón is an attacking midfielder who has 12 caps and played for clubs in his homeland and Argentina before joining Atlanta in 2016.

Newcastle’s transfer record has stood since Michael Owen was signed from Real Madrid in 2005 for £16m. Benítez clearly hopes Almirón will prove Newcastle’s “missing link” – in other words the creative link player to fill the No 10 role in the Spaniard’s preferred 4-2-3-1 system. The lack of an individual able to operate between the lines and make the team a little more three dimensional, has proved horribly elusive during his St James’ Park tenure.

The Paraguayan’s arrival should also help placate a manager whose contract on Tyneside runs out in May and, who as recently as Monday, refused to rule out the prospect of resignation were the transfer window close without Mike Ashley, the club’s owner, having sanctioned the recruitment of any reinforcements for an under-strength squad.