Newcastle United are preparing to make a bid for German international midfielder Felix Nmecha as they look to start their summer recruitment.
Although the move has come of the blue as his name has not emerged before, Telegraph Sport can confirm the Magpies have been tracking the Wolfsburg player for several months having instructed scouts to focus on value for money signings in the Bundesliga.
The reports have been positive, with his all action, box-to-box style appealing to manager Eddie Howe and the former Manchester City player made the shortlist for foreign targets at the end of last season.
Nmecha has also been linked with a move to both Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund in the last few months and is expected to cost around £15m.
It is understood that several remote meetings have taken place between manager Eddie Howe, director of football Dan Ashworth and chief scout Steve Nickson over the last few days with a determination to get things moving in the market.
And while there are serious Financial Fair Play concerns dominating conversations, Nmecha would be a relatively cheap signing and shows the club’s desire to extract as much value for money as they can from a “difficult market”.
Newcastle still intend to spend the bulk of their budget on two elite players, with at least one of them being another midfielder, but this would be a sign of the need to strengthen the squad as well as improve the first team ahead of their return to the Champions League after a 20-year absence.
Nmecha represented England at youth team level and played for Manchester City in the League Cup and Champions League before leaving for Wolfsburg as a free agent in the summer of 2021.
The player, who was born in Hamburg, switched allegiance to Germany at Under-21 level and made his senior debut in March this year.
Another player who is being seriously considered is Nice midfielder Kephren Thuram, but the 22-year-old France international would be a more expensive option which is why they have moved for Nmecha first. Thuram would cost closer to £30m and has also attracted interest from Liverpool.
The Magpies are also hoping to thrash a mutually acceptable fee with Leicester City for England international James Maddison, having been encouraged to believe that the move to Newcastle is his desired destination.
Newcastle are currently unwilling to match an initial asking price of £60m, but confidence is growing that they will be able to reach a compromise with the recently relegated Championship club.
Should Nmecha and Maddison arrive in the next couple of weeks it would be an early boost to the club and would allow them to assess their other positional needs with a decent chunk of money left to play with.
Source link: https://sports.yahoo.com/newcastle-poised-move-germanys-felix-181010745.html?src=rss
