Newcastle United are reportedly rivalling Juventus for the signing of Eintracht Frankfurt star Jesper Lindstrom, a player Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur have previously expressed an interest in.
Newcastle have made three senior signings during the current transfer window. They have captured Italy midfielder Sandro Tonali from Italian giants Milan in a £55million deal, as well as spending a reported £39m to snare winger Harvey Barnes from Leicester City.
Eddie Howe’s side have also brought in Kieran Trippier’s long-term successor at right-back, having landed England U21 starlet Tino Livramento from Southampton for £40m.
Tonali and Barnes have already made a particularly good impression on the Magpies faithful, as they both scored in the 5-1 thrashing of Aston Villa in Newcastle’s first game of the season.
But it seems Howe wants to further improve his midfield ranks even after the arrival of Tonali. Newcastle have been linked with Lindstrom on several occasions.
On July 12, Newcastle were tipped to make an offer for the creative midfielder ‘this week’, though that claim proved to be wide of the mark.
According to an update from Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet (via Sport Witness), Newcastle remain interested in Lindstrom.
Newcastle’s English rivals Arsenal and Tottenham have looked into signing him in the past. But neither North London club has done enough to sign Lindstrom, and it is now more likely he will head to St James’ Park.
Julian Brandt tries to block Jesper Lindstrom shot during Dortmund vs Frankfurt
Newcastle strongly pursuing Frankfurt star
Newcastle have ‘strong interest’ in the 23-year-old. And in a boost for Howe, Frankfurt are ‘ready to sell’ him, but only for the right price.
Frankfurt have already rejected a €25m (£21.4m) proposal from German rivals RB Leipzig this summer. This is because the bid did not meet their €34-35m (£29.1-30m) asking price.
Leipzig have since dropped out of the race. Although, it is not all good news for Newcastle as they will face competition from Juve for Lindstrom.
Juve have identified the Denmark international as a priority signing as they try to rebuild the squad under Max Allegri.
Juve need to sell one or two players before they will be able to meet Lindstrom’s £29-30m price tag. As such, this should give Newcastle an opportunity to succeed where the likes of Arsenal, Spurs and Leipzig failed by snaring Lindstrom away from Frankfurt.
Should Lindstrom arrive at Newcastle, then he would battle the likes of Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton, Tonali, Joe Willock and Sean Longstaff for a starting spot under Howe. This is clearly a lot of competition, but Newcastle featuring in the Champions League means Lindstrom would still get plenty of opportunities to impress.
