Journalist claims Newcastle have had £32m bid rejected for Ligue 1 star

According to some new reports this afternoon, Newcastle United are back in for long-term target Boubakary Soumare.

This comes from well known journalist Fabrizio Romano - whose been hot on transfers this summer and got a lot right so far - with him reporting that we'd had a bid of €35m (£32m) plus add-ons REJECTED for the highly-rated Lille midfielder.

As you will no doubt remember, Steve Bruce confirmed earlier this year that we had a £35m bid accepted for the 6ft 2' Frenchman back in January, only for the 22-year-old to remain in Ligue 1 with Lille for the remainder of the season.

Several months on, however, it looks like we might've had another try - although I struggle to see where that extra £32m is coming from after Mike Ashley's surprise decision to shell out £35m on Wilson, Fraser and Lewis over the past 48 hours.

One thing that is worth noting is The Athletic's Chris Waugh did reveal last month that Soumare was still on our radar and a player we were going to make a second bid for BEFORE coronavirus impacted Steve Bruce's budget.

It would be another exciting move, but I struggle to see us spending much more this summer - especially not on a £30m midfielder!

Saying that, Ashley's surprised us once or twice already this summer, so who knows!

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