Newcastle are set to miss out on Maxime Gonalons to Roma.
It has been a frustrating summer for Newcastle United so far and they face disappointment in their pursuit of another highly rated target.
According to L’Equipe, Newcastle were planning a potential move for Lyon midfielder Maxime Gonalons.
Now he appears set to move to Serie A side Roma instead, with Sky Sport Italia reporting he is deep in negotiations over a switch.
Lyon’s Maxime Gonalons in action with Ajax’s Hakim Ziyech
Sky Sport Italia claim Gonalons’ agent was in Rome yesterday, in talks over a four-year deal and discussing wage demands.
Roma are looking to act quickly to sign the central midfielder as they are in the process of selling Leandro Paredes to Russian side Zenit St Petersburg, currently being managed by Roberto Mancini.
Lyon’s Maxime Gonalons celebrates after scoring the winning penalty
Gonalons, 28, is the Lyon captain and has been at the club since coming through their academy.
For Newcastle tempting him away was always going to be tough although Rafa Benitez was a long term admirer going back to his Napoli days.
It appears he is now beyond their reach and Newcastle will have to move on to other targets.
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