Report: Newcastle keeping tabs on versatile 18-year-old forward from Ligue 1 - he could cost £35m

Eddie Howe has made a blistering start to his summer business with two players all-but confirmed and a third reportedly keen on a move to Newcastle United.

Those players are Lloyd Kelly from Bournemouth, with a deal reportedly all wrapped up, Tosin Adarabioyo who is close to signing from Fulham, and Giorgi Mamardashvili with Newcastle in talks with Valencia over a deal.

All of those players add strength to our backline in the form of two defenders and a goalkeeper.

With those three deals ticking over nicely, Newcastle can now turn their attention further up the field with Eddie Howe keen to bring in a young, versatile forward to cover several positions.

Newcastle have maintained an interest in Desire Doue for a while

The Magpies have had their eye on one such player for a while now and could maybe look to make their move this summer according to inews.

18-year-old Rennes forward Desire Doue has been scouted several times by Newcastle with his agent, Mikael Silvestre claiming Newcastle were making enquiries last year.

Doue has played 43 times for Rennes this season in all competitions covering both wings, centre midfield and attacking midfield, picking up four goals and six assists along the way.

Desire Doue is valued at £35million

It's reported that Doue is worth £35million which is quite a hefty sum for a youngster with no Premier League experience, but with 43 games under his belt this season in Ligue 1 and the Europa League, he's hardly inexperienced either.

If he were to come to Newcastle he'd probably not be a regular starter, but given how many positions he can cover, we'd expect we'd see a lot of him off the bench.

After seeing how far off the first-team our current crop of kids are this morning, it certainly couldn't hurt to bring in another youngster with first-team potential.