Newcastle United have been strongly linked with a move for 20-year-old centre-back Abdukodir Khusanov from RC Lens as they look to add defensive reinforcements.
Khusanov's name has been mentioned almost daily in the weeks leading up to and since the transfer window opened, and often a price tag of £25 million has been mooted as being enough to pry the Uzbek away from Ligue 1.
While Newcastle's financial position means that any big deals are going to be unlikely this month, there's always the feeling that if the deal is right, the club will make it work, even if it means having to rely on player sales to get it done.
Of course, that led to a very uncomfortable week for Newcastle last year as the PSR reporting deadline approached and the club was in a £70 million hole which led to the departures of two promising youngsters.
We thought that £25 million for a centre-back of Khusanov's reputation would be doable, but now David Ornstein has revealed in The Athletic that Lens are hoping for around €40 million (£33 million) for the exciting talent.
That may just push the deal out of Newcastle's reach for this window, and indeed, Ornstein believes that it makes the deal unlikely for the Magpies.
However, one thing Newcastle may be relying on is that Khusanov's agent, Jorge Mendez has been given a mandate to find a new club for his client this month.
Given how it's not just Newcastle United who are feeling the PSR squeeze, that means that the other interested parties, namely Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City, may try to negotiate that £33 million price tag down somewhat and it may get to a point where Newcastle feel they can get involved.
Should Newcastle manage to move a couple of players on this month, that will make things easier, although the idea is to sell on players to fill up the coffers for a summer spending spree.
Once again, we aren't sure where the truth lies in these stories as the narrative changes almost hourly, but that's the fun isn't it? Well, no, the fun is actually signing someone, but the speculation has its own charm.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
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25 | 36 | 60 |
2 |
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25 | 29 | 53 |
3 |
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25 | 12 | 47 |
4 |
![]() |
25 | 17 | 44 |
5 |
![]() |
25 | 15 | 43 |
6 |
![]() |
25 | 13 | 43 |
7 |
![]() |
25 | 9 | 41 |
8 |
![]() |
25 | 5 | 39 |
9 |
![]() |
25 | -3 | 38 |
10 |
![]() |
25 | 0 | 37 |
11 |
![]() |
25 | 1 | 34 |
12 |
![]() |
25 | 12 | 30 |
13 |
![]() |
25 | -3 | 30 |
14 |
![]() |
25 | -4 | 30 |
15 |
![]() |
25 | -7 | 29 |
16 |
![]() |
25 | -18 | 27 |
17 |
![]() |
25 | -19 | 19 |
18 |
![]() |
25 | -27 | 17 |
19 |
![]() |
25 | -30 | 17 |
20 |
![]() |
25 | -38 | 9 |