Newcastle set to sign £30m La Liga star with Arsenal linked too
Newcastle United want Nabil Fekir again having been left frustrated in their attempts to sign him back in the January transfer window.
The Magpies avoided relegation by a comfortable margin, even almost finishing the season in the top half of the table.
Eddie Howe now heads into a first summer window as Newcastle can flex their financial muscles thanks to PIF’s investment.
Some big names are being linked with Newcastle and you can now add Betis playmaker Fekir to that ever-growing list of targets.
The Sunday Mirror (29/05, p75) report that Newcastle are going back in for Fekir this summer
It’s suggested that Newcastle did attempt to bring Fekir to St James’ Park in January but couldn’t convince Betis to sell.
Betis then secured a new deal with Fekir in January, killing off Newcastle’s hopes whilst they called him a ‘genius’.
That hasn’t deterred Newcastle though and Howe allegedly wants to bring Fekir to Tyneside once and for all.
Fekir, 28, saw a huge £53million move from Lyon to Liverpool collapse in 2018 before heading to Betis in 2019.
Now valued at around £30million, Fekir could finally make his big move to the Premier League this summer.
Arsenal are also understood to be keen and were heavily linked last summer but it’s Newcastle making the strongest push.
Fekir was in fine form for Betis this season, notching 10 goals and 10 assists in 47 outings for the Andalusian side.
Primarily a number 10, Fekir has a wand of a left foot and he has effectively killed off any fears about his injury history by featuring regularly in Spain.
The French International could provide real creativity in the Newcastle side but is surely just a backup target to Lucas Paqueta.
Paqueta – currently with Fekir’s former club Lyon – ticks similar boxes in terms of being creative and left-footed, best deployed as a number 10, but the Brazilian is younger and seems keen to reunite with Bruno Guimaraes.
That deal isn’t a sure thing though, and if Newcastle can’t get Paqueta, they may well try for Fekir instead.
