Two months ago, L’Equipe stated Newcastle United have already made contact for Lyon’s Rayan Cherki and are expected to ‘get active’ to sign him in the summer.
The Magpies wanting the 19-year-old is backed up by But! Football Club. He came up through the ranks of the Ligue 1 side’s academy and has scored five goals and registered six assists from 39 games in the recently concluded season.
It’s explained that Lyon owner John Textor is ‘sitting on a golden egg’. The French club are expected to make at least one big sale in the summer by offloading either the attacking midfielder or Castello Lukeba.
Lyon hope to ‘rely on the competition’ between Newcastle and PSG to raise the price for the France U21 international. PSG have to make sure not to breach any Financial Fair Play rules and, therefore, are unlikely to break the bank to pay €50m or more to sign him.
Eddie Howe’s side, on the other hand, ‘could be more generous’, likely to pay a fee of €50m for the player. This would give Newcastle an edge over the Paris club in the race to sign Cherki, after having already made contact.
