On deadline day, multiple reports coming out of the French media explained Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers showed interest in Marseille’s Boubacar Kamara.
The 21-year-old has less than a year left on his contract, and the Magpies and Wolves proposed loan offers of €2.5m with an option to buy in 2022.
Wednesday’s edition of L’Equipe details the behind-the-scenes efforts made by the Ligue 1 side and Newcastle to transfer the midfielder.
Marseille had to offload players first before making new additions to their squad and Duje Ćaleta-Car was the main candidate to leave the club.
Ćaleta-Car’s refusal to change clubs saw Pablo Longoria, the French club’s president, try ‘one last card’ by allowing Kamara to leave late in the window.
L’Equipe say the formula proposed was a season-long loan deal worth €2.5m, with a compulsory purchase option set at €15m.
The Premier League sides were interested, ‘especially Newcastle’.
Despite the efforts made by Longoria and Newcastle, Kamara was ‘not convinced’ to join the Magpies [or Wolves] and ‘preferred to stay’ at Marseille.