Newcastle ‘clearly positioned themselves’, insistence on big offer from Rafa Benitez’s club

When Wednesday’s edition fo L’Equipe reported Newcastle United were ready to pay €27m for Youri Tielemans, we half thought it may be a typo.

Given the frustration at the Premier League club around paying big fees, or anything really, for signings it just didn’t fit with what had gone before.

Maybe L’Equipe had got it wrong and actually meant Newcastle had offered €270k for a loan until the end of the season, that’s how silly the whole thing seemed.

Well, it appears that wasn’t the case, because the same French newspaper use the same figure and same claim in their Thursday edition.

They’re insistent it’s real, and that Newcastle were ready to spend such an amount to sign the AS Monaco midfielder, who’s been going through a difficult time since signing for the French principality club.

L’Equipe say the club ‘clearly positioned themselves’.

Unfortunately for Newcastle and their big money, real or otherwise, Monaco weren’t keen on a full transfer, only wanting a loan because they feel the player will be worth more in the future.

That’s why Tielemans is off to Leicester City today, and not further north.