Newcastle United have joined the race for Burnley’s Maxwel Cornet and are ready to make a move for the forward.
According to talkSPORT, the Magpies are ready to trigger the £17.5m release clause in Cornet’s Clarets contract in order to steal a march on their rival suitors from the Premier League.
So far, Everton have had a bid to take Cornet on loan rejected by Burnley and have signed his teammate Dwight McNeil instead; while the 25-year-old failed to agree personal terms with Nottingham Forest resulting in that move collapsing; Chelsea also considered a move for the forward earlier in the transfer window but have failed to make their interest official with a bid, states the report.
This would be a great cheap option for Eddie Howe to strengthen his squad as the Magpies boss has been after a forward all summer and has had no look so far.
What other forwards are Newcastle linked with?
Newcastle have been linked with a number of other forwards throughout the current window, some of which seem to have completely disappeared. Examples of this are Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Ivan Toney who were two strikers heavily linked with a move to St. James’ Park this summer, as reported by the Daily Mirror, but nothing ever came of the interest.
According to 90min, Timo Werner, Memphis Depay and Nicolas Pepe have all been offered to Newcastle in recent weeks, with the Magpies currently considering the options that have been put forward to them.
In addition to being offered players, 90min reports that Watford duo Emmanuel Dennis and Ismaila Sarr are also being considered by Newcastle.
According to Foot Mercato, the Hornets are willing to let Sarr leave this summer if they receive an offer of around €35m for the winger but if Newcastle are going to spend that type of money, it would be more beneficial to recruit Werner or Depay – who can play as a striker and out wide.
However, all this could be irrelevant now as Howe could be ready to move for Cornet very soon.