Sky Sports - Newcastle want Alexis Claude-Maurice
According to Sky Sports, Newcastle are one of several clubs keen to sign Lorient star Alexis Claude-Maurice.
The 21-year-old attacking midfielder has enjoyed an impressive season in Ligue 2, bagging 14 goals and 4 assists in 35 appearances for Lorient.
It's difficult to know just who would be interested in Claude-Maurice given all the uncertainty at the club right now, however a young, talented player available for a reasonable fee sounds like the sort of player our scouts would be likely to look at given the transfer blue print set by a certain Mike Ashley.
Here's what Sky have had to say about our interest in the striker live transfer centre:
Alexis Claude-Maurice wants to move to Arsenal but ten other clubs are trying to sign the Lorient forward.
A source close to Claude-Maurice says Borussia Monchengladbach, RB Leipzig, Lyon, Lille, Monaco, Marseille, Sevilla, Brighton, Newcastle United and West Ham all want him this summer.
There are unconfirmed reports that Arsenal have made a £14m bid for him today. West Ham had a bid rejected for him last month
If this link does prove to be true, it looks like we'll face a lot of competition for his signature!
With him young, versatile, highly-rated and available for the sort of fee we may just stretch to this summer, it's a believable link, however we have some bigger issues to sort out with Rafa Benitez and potential new owners before we can think about signing anyone.
