Chris Waugh has claimed that Newcastle United hold an interest in Amine Gouiri.
At the beginning of the transfer window, Newcastle were being linked with a big-money move for Dominic Calvert-Lewin, although his £60m price tag seems to have put PIF off a move for the England international.
Since then, it appears that Newcastle have broadened their horizons and are looking to bring in someone who is untested in the Premier League, with the likes of Alexander Isak, Moussa Diaby and Gouiri among the latest names touted with potential moves.
However, recent claims have suggested that Isak and Diaby are no longer being considered by the club.
Prior to this development, Waugh spoke about the Magpies’ interest in the latter on Newcastle Fans TV.
He said: “Isak, I wrote about how he continues to feature heavily in Newcastle’s recruitment discussions, which he does, and so we at The Athletic profiled potential players.
Who would you rather Newcastle signed?
Gouiri!
Isak!
“These weren’t all players necessarily Newcastle were looking at, although Gouiri – he was one of the ones mentioned who Newcastle do hold an interest in.”
TIF Thoughts on interest in Gouiri…
Interestingly, it has been claimed by European Football Expert Alex Barker that Gouiri has a ‘legendary first touch’ and he was being tipped to replace Kylian Mbappe earlier on this year.
It would be a very smart piece of business by Newcastle if they were able to bring in someone of Gouiri’s calibre, especially when compared to previous target Hugo Ekitike as the former is just two years older but is far more proven in Ligue 1, with 48 more league starts and also 25 more goal involvements, having scored on 10 occasions last term.
Gouiri’s price tag is reportedly set to be rather large, which wouldn’t fit in the Magpies’ relatively restricted budget having already splashed out over £50 million, but his ability to play out wide and through the middle would be incredibly important given Callum Wilson’s poor injury record on Tyneside.