Newcastle United want Nabil Fekir but believe the €45million asking price set by Real Betis is simply too expensive considering his age.
The Magpies would no doubt love to sign a playmaker to add more creativity to Eddie Howe’s side.
Howe is working wonders anyway but adding a number 10 to bring another dimension to Newcastle’s attack would be ideal.
James Maddison has been a prime target in recent months but Leicester City will demand a huge price and may force Newcastle to look elsewhere.
Newcastle United want Nabil Fekir
That brings us back to Nabil Fekir.
It feels like the French playmaker has been linked with Newcastle ever since their takeover when through last year.
The Real Betis ace is now being linked again, this time by Tuttomercatoweb.
They claim that Newcastle are keen on Fekir and the player himself is understood to be open to the move.
It’s claimed that Betis want a huge €45million (£39million) – a fee that Newcastle just don’t agree with at all.
Instead, Newcastle believe that the price tag is about €10million too much and they would be happy to pay €35million (£31million).
Fekir turns 30 in July and Newcastle seemingly don’t want to pay the kind of money Real Betis are seeking.
Newcastle’s preferred price isn’t all that far away but you can imagine it would be a much lower fee up front.
Fekir has bagged three goals and two assists in 11 outings for Betis this season, after notching 10 goals and 10 assists in all competitions last term.
A skilful and technically-gifted number 10, Fekir has been branded a ‘genius’ by Betis themselves and Newcastle may think that he can offer a bit of magic.
Paying upwards of £30million when Fekir turns 30 at the end of the season would be a surprise though and we can’t see any way that Fekir becomes a priority over somebody like Maddison or even Celtic’s Matt O’Riley.
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