Newcastle United completed the signing of Bruno Guimarães from Lyon towards the end of the winter market.
The midfielder was not the only Lyon player the Tyneside club looked at in the last month. as Le10 Sport state the Magpies made an attempt to bring in the Brazil international’s compatriot, Lucas Paquetá.
It’s claimed Eddie Howe’s side made an offer worth €40m to the Ligue 1 side and were also willing to improve the attacking midfielder’s wages by 2.5 times. However, their efforts ended up being ‘in vain’.
That’s because Lyon and the former Milan man weren’t considering a transfer midway through the season, and the latter even made it clear he will ‘not listen to proposals’ in January.
Paquetá shared a close bond with Guimarães and admitted last week he still talks to his ‘great friend’ everyday. He was impacted by his countryman’s move to St James’ Park and is ‘now a little more isolated’ within Lyon’s dressing room.
The attacker, who has eight goals and four assists with Lyon this season, was determined to stay in France in December. However, that seems ‘no longer solid’ now and it feeds to Paquetá’s ‘desire to leave’ the club in the summer.
With Newcastle already making an offer and it remains to be seen whether Howe’s side will return for him after this season.
