Some new details have emerged on our alleged pursuit of Nice winger Allan Saint-Maximin after L’Equipe claimed last night that we’d reignited our in the 22-year-old.
The French outlet claim Nice are now demanding a lower fee of £22m for the wide man (after previosuly wanting £36m), but state that Lee Charnley is planning to negotiate around this figure, preferring an offer of £13.5m plus ‘bonuses’.
This sounds like classic Newcastle United under Mike Ashley, doesn’t it!
L’Equipe also claim that Steve Bruce has conducted his own ‘investigations’ into Saint-Maximin but has not been left convinced after failing to receive ‘good feedback’ about the enigmatic talent.
Saint-Maximin is statistically the most successful dribbler in Europe, but is still yet to fulfil his potential, with him bagging a fairly ordinary 6 goals and 3 assists in France last season.
Time will tell on this one, but if it’s true that we’re wanting to negotiate a cut-price deal and that Bruce ‘isn’t convinced’, this pursuit may be over before it’s really begun.