Sources: Big Newcastle transfer update after £35m bid accepted this year
Newcastle United are ready to focus on alternative targets to Lille midfielder Boubakary Soumare after he turned them down in January, Football Insider understands.
The Amanda Staveley-led consortium close to taking over the club are planning an ambitious overhaul of the playing squad this summer.
A Newcastle source has told Football Insider that the club are not expected to reignite their interest in Soumare even though Steve Bruce remains keen on recruiting a midfield enforcer.
The north east-giants had a £35million bid for the Ligue 1 star accepted earlier this year and offered a lucrative contract to the 21-year-old.
But France Under-21 international Soumare turned them down and Newcastle’s dramatically changing situation is likely to put paid to the transfer happening at all.
The Premier League is in the process of ratifying a proposed £300million takeover of the club by Staveley’s consortium, which includes Saudi’s Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman.
They are planning major investment in players and infrastructure that will see the club make major moves in the transfer market.
The club are already in contact with leading agents as they look to recruit big names who can make an instant impact next season.
Funds will be provided to pay the kind of wages that have been impossible during Mike Ashley’s reign.
It is likely to signal a move away from the kind of deals that would have been sanctioned by Ashley, many of which would have been Bosman free transfers this summer.
Newcastle’s recruitment team, including head of recruitment Steve Nickson, have been placed on furlough as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
In other Newcastle United news, it’s been claimed just two first-team stars are safe from being axed this summer amid major takeover reveal.