Newcastle United still like Lille’s Boubakary Soumare.
According to The Northern Echo, Newcastle United are ‘wary’ of trying again for Lille midfielder Boubakary Soumare – and may now prefer Said Benrahma.
It’s claimed that Soumare remains a leading target for Newcastle ahead of the summer transfer window, with Steve Bruce still keen on the Frenchman.
However, having seen him reject a £35million January move, Newcastle officials are thought to be worried about trying again, seemingly fearing a similar answer.
The report adds that Brentford star Benrahma is now considered a ‘more appealing option’ than Soumare, with Newcastle scouting him against Middlesbrough on Saturday.
It’s even noted that Newcastle officials want to push the idea of first-team football at St James’ Park if he does make the move, but they’ll have to wait until summer to put those plans into practice.
Soumare is a box-to-box midfielder previously compared to Paul Pogba, and based on his displays for Lille, he may be able to provide some real drive and quality on the ball in the Newcastle midfield.
Yet Benrahma, 24, is a winger with outstanding skill and dribbling ability, meaning that he doesn’t play in the same area of the pitch as Soumare, and would offer Bruce a different player to the Frenchman.
Still, it may well be that Benrahma would be eyed as Newcastle’s big-money signing this summer rather than a like-for-like alternative to Soumare, but with major competition for both players, Newcastle face a battle to land either of them.
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