Newcastle United couldn’t secure the signing of Lyon star Lucas Paqueta in January, and he could now end up at Paris Saint-Germain instead.
The Magpies were chasing a number of January signings and did at least secure five new faces.
In came Kieran Trippier, Chris Wood, Matt Targett, Dan Burn and Bruno Guimaraes, with the latter the most eye-catching signing.
What’s interesting though is that Guimaraes was not the only Brazilian midfielder Newcastle wanted to sign from Lyon.
Foot Mercato reported that Newcastle had offered Lucas Paqueta a huge deal worth around £180,000-a-week, but he actually turned that down.
Paqueta allegedly wanted to join a more prestigious European team if he was going to leave Lyon.
Newcastle will be happy with Guimaraes, but may be gutted that Paqueta hasn’t joined him on Tyneside.
We all remember Manchester City failing to convince Kaka to join after their takeover, and Newcastle moving for Paqueta has its parallels.
Compared to Kaka, Paqueta is a creative and dangerous midfield player who as supposed to become a star after joining AC Milan.
That didn’t really happen, but Paqueta is shining this season with eight goals and four assists in 26 games for Lyon.
Newcastle may hope to convince Paqueta to join this summer, but that won’t be easy now.
French newspaper L’Equipe claim that Paqueta is one of Paris Saint-Germain’s top targets this season and they’re ready to make a big move.
PSG certainly fit the bill of a major European club, and would allow Paqueta to stay in France, where he appears settled.
Newcastle’s slim chance of changing Paqueta’s mind is getting harder and harder, and it looks like PSG are positioning themselves to snatch the Brazilian this summer.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
