Newcastle United have submitted an offer of around £17.8million for Lille midfielder Thiago Maia, according to Le 10 Sport.
The French outlet report that the Ligue 1 club were previously willing to allow the Brazilian to head to Tyneside on loan with an option to buy for £22million, but that has now been blocked with the cash-strapped outfit wanting a straight permanent deal.
Le 10 Sport claim that Lille are seeking a fee of £22million for the 21-year-old enforcer amid ongoing between the two parties, with a swift conclusion possible.
OPINION
Let’s be real here. There is little to no chance that Newcastle have submitted a bid worth this much money to sign Maia. Manager Rafa Benitez is working under a severely limited budget, and while club bosses have sanctioned moves for a few more players before deadline day, there is no way that there will be enough funds in place to splash out such an amount on one player. That is especially true when you consider how unproven Maia is after just one season in Europe with Lille. A previously-reported loan deal with option to buy looked like a possibility, but this new demand from Lille should mean that a deal for Maia goes out the window. It is a shame, because Maia is a quality young player with the potential to go on and become a top midfielder, but Newcastle will have to look elsewhere in the final days of the window if this report is correct.
