Newcastle United are leading the race to sign Lyon forward Jean-Philippe Mateta, according to TEAMTalk.
The football outlet report that the Magpies are keen on signing the 20-year-old who scored 19 goals while on loan at Ligue 2 side Le Havre last season.
TEAMTalk report that Mateta is also understood to be keen on making the move but has a host of clubs interested in him, with the likes of West Ham, Leicester and Everton all expressing an interest.
Good move for Newcastle United?
Yes, to a degree.
The Magpies desperately need to improve their attacking options and must sign a clinical forward in this window in order to make Rafa Benitez happy.
While Mateta clearly has a an eye for goal based on the amount of goals he scored in his 2017/18 campaign, he was playing in France’s second-tier.
However there have been a few examples over the years of footballers successfully making the leap to England from that division and maybe the 20-year-old will be another example.
Lyon clearly could let him go after playing him only twice in his career and that means a deal for the Magpies could be relatively easy to tie up.
Nothing But Newcastle rating: 6/10
Likely to happen?
While the Magpies and Mateta are seemingly keen with no offer on the table as of yet, it’s still too early to conclusively say that this deal will happen.
Benitez’s side have been linked to a string of forwards throughout this window as everyone knows that is the position the Magpies are looking to strengthen.
Mateta is just the latest in a long line and while his 2017/2018 stats are impressive it may just be another case of a player being linked with a move to St James Park for the sake of it.
Also with other Premier League teams sniffing around the forward then they may strike first and leapfrog the Magpies in the race to get his signature.
As Benitez’s team may be in pole position right now but they haven’t exactly moved fast in this transfer window as of yet.
Nothing But Newcastle rating: 4/10
