Inter Milan midfielder Marcelo Brozovic and Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana have turned down moves to Premier League strugglers Newcastle United, as reported by Calciomercato and FC Inter News.
Last week, Marcelo Brozovic started and shone as Simone Inzaghi’s side secured their place in the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time in a decade thanks to a commanding 2-0 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk.
And with city rivals AC Milan losing in Serie A for the second game in a row a few days later, the Scudetto holders Inter are now just four points off the top of the table, hunting down league-leading Napoli like a bloodhound chasing a rabbit down a warren.
If you were in Brozovic’s position, would you walk away from the glamour of the Champions League and a Serie A title fight for a club winless in 13 games, six points adrift at the bottom of England’s top-flight?
If the answer is a resounding ‘no’, then it seems that you have something in common with Inter’s midfield metronome.
Have Newcastle missed out on Marcelo Brozovic and Andre Onana?
Brozovic will be a free-agent next summer. And, as it stands, he and the Inter bosses remain poles apart in negotiations over a new deal.
The Nerazzuri can breathe that little bit easier, however, with TMW reporting that the former Dinamo Zagreb star has turned down a £115,000-a-week contract at St James’ Park.
According to FC Inter News, Andre Onana was similarly unimpressed when an offer from a nouveau-riche Magpies side landed in his lap.
Onana, like Brozovic, will become a free-agent sooner rather than later after turning down a new contract at Eredivisie giants Ajax.
The Cameroon international is understood to have signed a four-year deal worth £50,000-a-week at the San Siro, however, after giving both Newcastle and Arsenal the cold shoulder.
If Onana and Brozovic are basking in domestic or European glory by the time May rolls around, no one could argue that they made the wrong decision.
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