Journalist now says Sandro Tonali situation has made Newcastle United wary as they weigh up move for France U21 star

Newcastle United have long been credited with an interest in France U21 star Rayan Cherki and with Lyon in financial trouble a January move looks increasingly likely.

Lyon have been threatened with relegation to Ligue 2 if they fail to improve their financial situation before the end of the season which has put clubs on high alert looking to potentially pick up a bargain from the French giants.

Newcastle have long been interested in winger Rayan Cherki who has been compared to Hatem Ben Arfa in the past and the Magpies could see Lyon's woes as the catalyst to progress their interest into a bid.

However, journalist Dean Jones believes that Newcastle will still want to do more homework before making that call.

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Newcastle don't want to repeat the same mistakes they made with the Tonali transfer

After forking over £55 million for Sandro Tonali only to have him receive a 10-month ban from the game soon after, Newcastle are now more determined than ever to make sure they have a compehensive background on their transfer targets and as such won't make a move until they have thoroughly done their due diligence.

That being said, Jones has confirmed that Newcastle's interest in Cherki is genuine while speaking on the Ranks FC Podcast.

" I did just get a reply about Cherki.

“He says, let me try and put this into words that are acceptable to talk on a podcast without giving them away too much.”

“Basically, there is long term interest in him from Newcastle and there are a couple of the big figures in terms of recruitment that are interested in him.

“They haven’t actually done a deep dive into his background and more personal life at this stage, which would need to be done because they would want to make sure that his personality is a good fit and that he’s going to take to life.”

“I’ll be honest, I think the Tonali situation has scared Newcastle a little bit. It’s no judgment on any individuals. It’s just like, let’s make sure we know everything there is to possibly know about any future signings.”

Newcastle need to start narrowing down their shopping list

Newcastle won't have much time to get their background checks done with the January window looming large on the horizon now.

We aren't expecting the Magpies to do huge business in January but we have all our extremities crossed that the club can find enough money to bring in a much-needed right-winger as the need for one becomes more apparent with each game.

Cherki has the skills and the ability, but his temperament has been called into question. Bryan Mbeumo and Antoine Semenyo are also on the club's radar but they could cost considerable more than Cherki.