Newcastle United have reportedly offered Marseille midfielder Andre Ayew a four-year deal.
Ayew is out of contract in the summer and able to sign a pre-contract agreement, but Newcastle face competition for the Ghana international’s signature from a number of clubs at home and abroad, including Liverpool and this Sunday’s opponents, Everton.
Ayew, also wanted by clubs on the continent, among them Borussia Dortmund and Roma, is not expected to make a decision on his future until next month at the earliest.
Newcastle, crucially, can’t offer the 25-year-old European football.
Ayew, an African Cup of Nations finalist with Ghana last month, has long been tracked by the Tynesiders, whose chief scout, Graham Carr, is particularly well connected in France.
Newcastle face another summer of rebuilding at St James’s Park.
The squad is short in a number of areas, and there are question marks over the future of Cheik Tiote and Moussa Sissoko in midfield.
And the reported offer to Ayew suggests planning is well advanced despite the uncertainty over the head coach role, which John Carver is filling until the end of the campaign.