Newcastle United were priced out of a January move for striker Maximilian Philipp by his club Borussia Dortmund, according to Chronicle journalist Lee Ryder.
The same newspaper reported last month that the Magpies were looking at a potential loan move for the German. However, the demands of the Bundesliga leaders put paid to the negotiations.
It is understood that Newcastle had been monitoring Philipp and were indeed keen on loaning the 24-year-old. Dortmund, though, wanted a pricey permanent purchase clause inserted into the agreement.
That caused the Magpies to leave the negotiating table, and it seems that they never returned.
OPINION
There’s no surprise that this is what caused the move to break down. Despite breaking their club record to sign winger Miguel Almiron in January, Newcastle are not what could be called free-spenders. They rarely break the bank and it seems that this deal was no different. To be fair to the powers that be at St James’ Park, Philipp hasn’t shown himself to be worth big money. He’s never been a prolific goalscorer and certainly hasn’t made much of an impression at Dortmund this season. He needs first team football but when his club are pricing teams out of deals that’s just not going to happen. Newcastle could have done with more firepower last month. Salomon Rondon is the only reliable frontman at the club and he is often left isolated by his team’s lack of creativity. Philipp would have been a decent addition to help take the load off him but ultimately it wasn’t mean to be.