Reports suggest that Real Madrid are closing in on the signing of Newcastle midfielder Moussa Sissoko, although it's said that the Champions League holders are likely to wait until it's confirmed that they've missed out on Paul Pogba before they make a bid for Sissoko.
Sissoko outshone his more illustrious international teammate during parts of France's home Euro 2016 campaign this summer, piquing the interest of a number of big clubs including the Spanish giants.
Real Madrid close in on #NUFC midfielder Moussa Sissoko https://t.co/PjW3mVBuXA pic.twitter.com/8VFTgeyUfM
The Telegraph report that the Newcastle man's form in the latter stages of the competition moved Real to the brink of making a move in the summer's transfer window, with the apparently failure of their pursuit of Pogba bumping Sissoko's capture up their agenda.
Sissoko is likely to be a lot easy to convince to move than the 23-year-old Pogba, with the lustre of Champions League football far outshining all the relative delights of playing in the Championship, whatever those may be.
The newspaper claim that the Magpies would be willing to let the inconsistent 26-year-old leave for around £30m - a princely fee for a player in the second tier of English football, but one which they believe reflects his quality and contract status.
Congratulations my Bro @GWijnaldum and good luck with your new team @LFC. https://t.co/GMDXm5MWU0
While Newcastle's not-inconsiderable spending power was expected to see them retain most of their top talents after dropping down into the Championship at the end of last season, Rafa Benitez has already seen Andros Townsend and Georginio Wijnaldum snatched away from St James' Park this summer for a combined fee of almost £40m.
The sales should give Benitez scope to reinforce his squad with a number of solid players - with the club's defence looking particularly shaky - but the 'big name' of the club is still unlikely to attract players of Wijnaldum and Townsend's quality down to the Championship.
"?For more from Chris when he's not writing on 90min, follow him on Twitter at @ThatChris1209!
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