Premier League outfit Newcastle United want Souleymane Isaak Toure and are ready to pay £7.5 million for the Le Havre defender, as reported by FootMercato.
If you’re taken aback somewhat by Newcastle’s interest in a 19-year-old from the French second tier, then you haven’t been paying attention.
Those feverishly predicting an influx of ‘Gallowgate Galacticos’ may well be disappointed. Newcastle may be the richest football club on planet earth but that does not mean they will be following in PSG’s gilded footsteps, hoarding superstar talents while constructing a wage bill that would make a statue weep.
Newcastle’s overarching transfer policy remains, to an extent, largely unchanged, albeit with a healthy dose of ambition.
An approach revolving around talented, hungry, up-and-coming youngsters with big futures ahead of them. Like Bruno Guimaraes, Hugo Ekitike, Sven Botman, Lucas Paqueta, for instance.
Newcastle want Isaak Toure from Le Havre
Teenager Toure ticks plenty of boxes too, as far as Newcastle are concerned. The giant centre-half has been a revelation in Ligue 2, despite Le Havre’s struggles. And reports suggest the Magpies ready to stump up a bid of £7.5 million.
Toure, who is also in talks with Marseille, wants his future decided over the next three weeks, before the U19 European Championships begin in June.
Standing at 6ft 9ins, Toure is one of the few professional footballers in Europe who would make Dan Burn look like Shaun Wright-Phillips. In fact, should he arrive on Tyneside, he would be the tallest player ever to step foot in the Premier League, outfield or otherwise.
Toure, who is unsurprisingly excellent in the air but more than capable with the ball at his feet too, has also caught the eye of AC Milan and Real Madrid (Calciomercato). His contract expires in the summer of 2023.
“You know in each transfer window that players like Abdoullah Ba or Isaak Toure are likely to leave,” Le Havre’s former Rangers boss Paul Le Guen said last year, confirming Lille’s interest in the two-metre man-mountain.
“From the moment a club like Lille makes an offer, we are screwed. Isaak never told me of his desire to leave the club, it was his agents who acted (on his behalf).
“(Lille coach) Jocelyn Gourvennec called me and, if all the conditions were met, I would have given my consent.”
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