Midfielder Newcastle wanted last summer just signed a new deal which contains a £26m release clause

Long-term Newcastle United target Amadou Haidara has just signed a new deal with RB Leipzig which contains an affordable release clause.

Last summer Newcastle were said to be chasing Amadou Haidara and Dominik Szoboszlai from RB Leipzig with the latter ultimately joining Liverpool over the Magpies.

Haidara, despite wanting a move from the Bundesliga side, stayed put as the club refused to sell after bringing in plenty of cash from the sales of Szoboszlai and Josko Gvardiol to Manchester City.

Now, journalist Ben Jacobs has posted on X that Haidara has signed a new deal at Leipzig.

Newcastle moved on to other targets when Leipzig refused to sell Haidara

The new deal is said to contain a €30million (£25.7million) release clause, although there's no information as to when the clause becomes active and whether it applies to clubs from certain countries.

However, it could be of interest to Eddie Howe who gave up on the 26-year-old after a lengthy pursuit last year before the Magpies moved to bring in Sandro Tonali.

Haidara has made 20 appearances for Leipzig this season scoring one goal and providing one assist. He spent January on international duty at the African Cup of Nations with Mali.

£26million could make this a deal too good to pass up

Newcastle's midfield is probably the area that needs the least attention after right-back, but if there were a couple of players potentially on their way out to make room, then we could see another addition to the middle of the park this summer.

At under £30million, too, it could be a deal too good for Newcastle to pass up but we definitely think things could be overcrowded in the midfield when everyone is fit (and not banned).

Having said that, Eddie Howe being unable to rotate his squad this season was a massive issue and one you'd imagine he'd want to avoid next season, so maybe a bit of overcrowding is what we need to avoid a similar story next season.