Club waiting to sell player to Newcastle in order to land long term target, Magpies have tabled offer

After selling Rafael Leao and Nicolas Pepe for a combined fee of €115m, Lille have turned their attention to their long term target Yusuf Yazici.

There have been reports in the Turkish media that Lille president Gerard Lopez is currently in Istanbul for transfer talks with Trabzonspor president Ahmet Agaoglu. It’s claimed a deal for the 23 year old is now very close.

According to TRT Spor, Newcastle United will play a part in the deal, with claims Lille have offered a percentage of Edgar Ie’s transfer fee to Trabzonspor. The insinuation is the player is close to joining the Premier League club.

TRT Spor claim, via Sporx, Lille first offered Ie to Trabzonspor as part of the Yazici deal. However, Newcastle have submitted an offer for the Portuguese defender and it’s thought he’s now close to joining Steve Bruce’s side.

It’s been reported Lille will pay 50 percent of the transfer fee they receive from the Premier League side to Trabzonspor, now that Ie won’t be heading to the Super Lig side.

The 25-year old defender spent the second half of last season on loan with French side Nantes and he’s under contract with his club until June 2022.

This is all very confusing, but certainly one to keep an eye on.