Newcastle United have made a £10.2 million bid for Lille’s attacking midfielder Florian Thauvin according to various reports.
Unsurprisingly, Newcastle are still yet to make a permanent signing in this transfer window and only have the loan signing of Loic Remy under their belt.
Thauvin is yet another Frenchman that the Magpies are being linked with, but the move appears to make little sense.
The 20-year-old only joined Lille from Bastia in January, for a fee that was less than a third of the £10.2m that is being quoted now.
Thauvin hasn’t even played for Lille yet as he was immediately loaned back to Bastia and it is thought that he has failed to settle in the French town.
Like much of Newcastle’s transfer enquiries this summer, Ligue 1 club Marseille are also involved in this chase, as the two clubs go head-to-head for Thauvin’s signature.
Lille are reportedly happy to sell, which isn’t a surprise given the profit that they are set to cash in on, so Thauvin could well be on the move in the next couple of days.
While Thauvin may be a high quality player who can play in the middle of the park or on the left, he wouldn’t be my number one target as Newcastle need a striker more than anything else!
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We also need a left winger so it does make sense, waiting until a striker is signed until we strengthen other areas is what doesn’t make sense, because if we fail to get a striker then there would be no strengthening at all, now that would be plain stupid.