Newcastle United want Maxwel Cornet and are now chasing a structured deal for the Burnley winger that could cost more than his release clause.
The Magpies have already signed one Burnley player this summer by luring goalkeeper Nick Pope to St James’ Park.
Eddie Howe still wants new signings though and may now look to raid his former club once again.
A left-footed winger appears to be a priority for Howe and after deals for Moussa Diaby and Jack Harrison seemingly proved too expensive, Newcastle are now turning to Cornet.
Newcastle United want Maxwel Cornet
Newcastle have now made an approach for Cornet in the hope of luring the Burnley wide man up to Tyneside, according to the Daily Mail.
Cornet has a release clause of around £17.5million in his contract, but Newcastle don’t really want to pay that in one chunk.
Instead, Burnley would be open to accepting a higher fee – closer to £25million – but take that fee over a longer period of time.
That may work for Newcastle, with a deal for Cornet cheaper than Diaby or Harrison even if they pay over his release clause.
Cornet cost Burnley £13million last summer as he made the move from Lyon to the Premier League.
The Ivorian notched nine goals and one assist in 26 Premier League outings last season and was a shining light in Burnley’s relegation campaign.
Cornet – hailed as ‘unbelievable’ by compatriot Kolo Toure – could now secure himself an immediate Premier League return with Newcastle.
Cornet was left out of Burnley’s 1-0 win at Huddersfield Town on Friday night with the Clarets seemingly expecting him to leave very soon.
Newcastle may now be favourites to secure Cornet, but they still have plenty of work to do in order to come up with an offer Burnley deem acceptable.
Other clubs have been linked with Cornet, such as West Ham and Everton, but Newcastle are now making their push.
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