Newcastle United reportedly made a bid for Lille’s Ligue 1 play-maker Thiago Maia.
It seems that Thiago Maia was nothing more than a pipe dream for Newcastle United.
According to Le10 Sport, the Magpies made a £6.5 million bid for Lille’s Brazilian pass-master during the final few days of the transfer window.
A Brazilian play-maker who shot to fame by winning Olympic Gold in Rio 2016, Maia exploded onto the scene at club level too by helping Lille finish second behind PSG in Ligue 1 last season.
A runners-up spot means Champions League football is on its way back to the Stade Geoffrey Guichard with Les Dogues included alongside Chelsea, Ajax and Valencia in a well-balanced Group H.
And the chance to play in Europe’s premiere club competition for the first time was something that Maia was never going to walk away from – despite being handed a chance to prove himself on English shores.
According to La Voix du Nord, the 22-year-old rejected offers to leave Lille in order to prove himself in the Champions League.
Newcastle may be a proud old institution of the British game but they haven’t sampled the caviar of top-level continental football since 2003. And with the much-maligned Steve Bruce at the helm, don’t expect the Magpies to challenge for a place in the Premier League top four any time soon.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
