Ayyoub Bouaddi linked with Newcastle move after World Cup debut

Newcastle United have now been linked with Moroccan teenager Ayyoub Bouaddi, who impressed when going up against Bruno Guimaraes at the World Cup.

The Magpies are currently scouring France for young talent, and one player who has caught their eye is Lille's 18-year-old sensation Ayyoub Bouaddi.

Newcastle had been keeping tabs on the midfielder before the World Cup when it was believed that Lille were demanding £60 million for their young star.

However, after just one game at the World Cup, The Chronicle is reporting that Lille could potentially start increasing their asking price.

Newcastle will face stiff competition for Ayyoub Bouaddi

Bouaddi, who turned his back on playing for France to represent Morocco, stood out in the 1-1 draw with Brazil on Saturday night.

Newcastle are not alone in their interest in Bouaddi, though. Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain are big fans too, and it looks as though Arsenal have already done a fair bit of the groundwork and could be in the lead in the race for his signature.

The central midfielder is defensively minded and could fit that No 6 role that Newcastle is looking for, but it doesn't feel like this is one we should be getting too excited about.

We don't see this one going anywhere

At £60 million before his World Cup exploits, he was already way out of Newcastle's budget for this summer anyway.

Add in the fact that Arsenal and PSG are interested, and we didn't stand a chance unless we made cast-iron promises that he would be the first name on the teamsheet for every game or something like that.

Football is a funny old game, and sometimes players make unpredictable moves in the transfer market, so we're not completely out of ht erunning, but common sense definitely tells us not to get too carried away here.

Rumour Rating: 4/10 - No doubt we've been looking at Bouaddi, but with the price and the competition, this one is way too difficult to pull off