Newcastle have reached an agreement in principle to sign the striker Loïc Rémy from Marseille.

The 26-year-old forward has been linked with a number of Premier League clubs but the Marseille president Vincent Labrune has now indicated that Newcastle are close to clinching his signature.

"We have an agreement in principle with Newcastle, it is true," Labrune said. "We have therefore given Loïc permission to chat with them. For the rest, we must wait patiently."

It was reported that Rémy had left the Marseille squad preparing for a league match against Sochaux in order to seal his move to St James' Park. Newcastle have yet to confirm the deal.

Remy's Marseille team-mate Joey Barton, himself a former Newcastle player, appeared to indicate the deal was done when he tweeted: "Good luck to Loïc in Newcastle. Don't worry I've told him what to expect. Great guy. Perfect club for him. £toonarmy".

Remy has played in 14 Ligue 1 games for Marseille this season but has started only two of them, and has scored only one league goal in 2012-13. However, he scored 12 league goals last season in the league, having hit 15 the season before, and would give the Newcastle manager, Alan Pardew, a significant new option up front, something he feels is desperately needed.

"It is pretty obvious that we need another striker," Pardew said after the goalless draw against Norwich on Saturday. "We didn't really have the chance to mix it up or an option so we had to stick to the game plan that we had at the start of the game.

"Norwich could bring on Grant Holt to change the game plan a bit but we don't have that luxury."