Outscored by Daryl Murphy, Dwight Gayle and Ayoze Perez last season, Aleksandar Mitrovic’s status at Newcastle has taken a bit of a dip.
Expected to have a good season after picking up nine goals in his first campaign in the Premier League, the Serbian forward failed to do so, and, if Foot Mercato in France are to be believed, Rafa Benitez is now trying to get rid of him.
The French website reported on Wednesday morning that the 22-year-old has been offered to Lyon in Ligue 1 for a rather expensive €18m.
While there is age and three years of contract left to take into consideration, trying to get nearly all of your money back on a player who struggled to find the back of the net is a bold move from the Geordies.
Foot Mercato also reveal the player would be looking for a contract of around €1.5m/year post tax (around £25k) to convince him to jump ship.
Having lost Alexandre Lacazette to Arsenal, Lyon are still looking to bolster their strike force, and while they bought Mariano Diaz from Real Madrid, another forward would go a long way to make up for the guaranteed 30+ goals a season their former star gave them.
Is Mitrovic the man to do that? Probably not.
However, having excelled in the Jupiler League with Anderlecht, perhaps French football would suit his skills more.
We’ll be keeping an eye on this one.
