Newcastle have made an ambitious bid for Lille star Boubakary Soumaré, according to L’Equipe.
The French outlet claim the Ligue 1 side have received offers from Newcastle, Tottenham and Wolves for the highly-rated midfielder – however our hopes of signing the 20-year-old seem slim to non-existent.
Not only is it reported that he’ll demand a fee in the region of £40m – with Soumare rated as one of France’s top talent – the player himself has also distanced himself from a move this month.
Here’s what he’s had to say in response to reported interest from the Premier League:
“I don’t see myself leaving.
“I feel good here. I’m learning, we have high goals, like the Champions League.
“A departure is not on the agenda.”
The Athletic revealed that he was someone we were tracking in a recent piece on Bruce’s search for a ‘box-to-box’ midfielder – although they did admit at the time that a deal was highly unlikely.
Interestingly, it was reported on deadline day (January 2019) that we had a bid ‘rejected’ for Soumare.
With that in mind, it seems we may have long-term interest in the midfielder – not that a deal looks remotely possible 12 months later, with him so sought after and likely to cost £40m plus.
Instead, it seems like ex-Spurs midfielder Nabil Bentaleb will be arriving on loan.
