SHARE

A few days ago we covered claims from Germany on Newcastle United and Nabil Bentaleb.

The midfielder spent last season on loan with the Mapgies, and they had an option to make the transfer permanent for €10m. This wasn’t used, but that didn’t mean there was no interest in taking the player back.

Newcastle had made a ‘calculation’ they could get Bentaleb back for a lower fee, with Schalke keen to sell this summer. A potential transfer fee was put at €5/6m, making the move sound like reasonable value.

Claims from Italy now talk of interest from Hellas Verona. L’Arena say Newcastle and Schalke are still in negotiations for the former Tottenham player, with Verona currently ‘stood at the window’.

The report makes clear it would be a difficult transfer for the Serie A club to achieve, perhaps given the Newcastle interest, and they entertainingly state it would be as hard as ‘climbing Everest fully naked in the dark’.

Despite that, the interest is real, and Newcastle may need to hurry should they really want to agree a deal. With it now out there that around €6m could secure the signing, interest from more clubs is likely to appear.