Sam Allardyce, the Newcastle United manager, is closing in on the signatures of both Alan Smith, the Manchester United striker and Cacapa, the Brazilian defender.

Newcastle have agreed a £6 million fee for Smith, who is deemed surplus to requirements at Old Trafford, while Cacapa, the Lyon captain, is scheduled to have a medical today.

“I am hoping that the Alan Smith deal will go through today,” Allardyce said. “He has other clubs to consider and I am hoping we are top of his list.”

Allardyce was more hopeful later, adding: “Not everything is sorted yet but if everything goes right, maybe tomorrow morning."

The 31-year-old Cacapa has reportedly been on Tyneside since Sunday, and the Newcastle boss is hopeful a deal can be agreed quickly.

“He is a top player and we will be delighted if we can pull this off as we regard him as a big capture,” Allardyce said. “Our fans should not be put off by the fact they may not have heard of Cacapa because he has certainly been heard of in Brazil and France.

“He has been captain of Lyon for the past five years and for every one of those five years they won the French title, so obviously he has a lot of Champions League experience.

“That’s why we are hoping that everything goes okay with his medical and that we can agree a deal with his people because we believe he would be a terrific capture for us.

“Unfortunately, he has been back in Brazil and he has had no pre-season work, and in normal circumstances we would not consider him for our opening game at Bolton a week on Saturday, but it all depends on what type of injuries we have.”