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Newcastle are in negotiations with French club Lyon to sign 19 year old striker Myziane Maolida.
That is according to L’Équippe who report that Spanish side Real Betis are already prepared to offer €8 million (£7.1 million) for his services, but that Newcastle may be ready to hijack that move with a higher offer.
A French under-19 international, who had broken through to the first-team last season, scoring 3 goals in 22 appearances, the player is ready to leave the French club as he seeks more playing time. Ironically enough that is because of an arrival from across the channel, with Maolida pushed down the pecking order at Lyon, following the signing of highly promising England youth international Reo Griffiths, who has joined from Tottenham.
Newcastle’s manager Rafael Benitez has bemoaned the club’s relative inactivity in the transfer window, despite signing forward Yoshinori Moto from Mainz, and Fabian Schår from Deportivo La Corűna, so the capture of Maolida may assuage his fears that the club is trailing behind its rivals when it comes to strengthening ahead of the new season.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.