Smith believes Judge will stay at Brentford

Brentford boss Dean Smith does not believe Newcastle will sign Alan Judge until the Irishman has recovered from his injury.

The Magpies have been discussing a potential deal to sign the 27-year-old, who has been sidelined since April.

A number of clubs were lining up bids for him before he suffered a double leg break during the Bees’ win at Ipswich.

As well as delaying any move, the injury ruled Republic of Ireland international Judge out of the European Championship.

He is unlikely to be available to play again until October at the earliest, but Newcastle are aware that other clubs are likely to be monitoring his progress and they are therefore keen to put themselves in pole position to sign him.

If Newcastle do not complete a deal to sign him during this month’s transfer window there could instead be an agreement in principle for Judge to join them when the window reopens in January.

And Smith believes it is unlikely that the move will be pushed through sooner rather than later.

He said: “Alan Judge’s injury is well known, but there have been enquiries about him from a number of clubs.

“With his injury, currently I don’t think anyone is going to take the plunge on him. He’s still our player and is still in our plans.

“Let’s see where we are when the window opens again in January.”