Newcastle United have tabled their first official transfer bid of the summer as they saw an offer rejected by OGC Nice for attacker Alassane Plea, according to the Chronicle.
The report revealed that the Magpies had made a move for the French side’s hitman after netting 21 goals last season, but that the £27million asking price leaves them short with their own offer.
The move is said to be a significant transfer development on Tyneside, signalling that manager Rafael Benitez has finally been give access to funds and that he has been given the green light to try and bring in some new talent to help bolster the first team squad.
Opinion
This bit of news seems to be a cloud with a silver lining. Plea is certainly an exciting talent but even with the promise of the Premier League’s television money, Newcastle will not be found spending £27million on anyone this summer, let alone an as yet unproven talent from Ligue 1. No one, other than those at the top of St James’ Park, know just what sort of figure the Magpies offered to secure his signing, and it could have been a sighter of a bid rather than an all-out attempt to sign him up. Still, if money is now available to Benitez, then fans can start to get a little more excited about the prospect of this transfer window after what has proved to be a slow start to proceedings, with just free signing Ki Sung Yeung coming in as a new face on Tyneside, Martin Dubravka also putting pen to paper on a permanent deal after his loan spell.