Newcastle see €140m bid for Napoli duo rejected
Newcastle reportedly had bids for Napoli pair Victor Osimhen and Fabian Ruiz rejected by the Serie A side this month.
The Mapies have already completed the signings of Bruno Guimaraes, Chris Wood and Kieran Trippier in the January transfer window, and have other irons in the fire on deadline day, but failed in an ambitious move for Osimhen and Ruiz.
READ MORE: F365’s January transfer deadline day – and it’s LIVE!
That’s according to journalist Paulo Bargiggia, who told CalcioNapoli24 Newcastle were prepared to spend a huge amount of money on the duo, as per Sport Witness.
He said: “Napoli received offers from Newcastle for the two jewels Osimhen and Fabian Ruiz, around 40 million for the Spaniard; they could have reached even 100 for the former Lille.
“Napoli turned them down and, the players themselves, were not convinced by the destination.
“The club has to renew the contract of Fabian Ruiz, who, at the moment, is one of the best in the squad and earns 1.5 million.
“My feeling is that if important clubs like Real Madrid show up, it will be hard to keep the player and match certain offers.”
Newcastle have also consistently been linked with a loan move for Jesse Lingard, who is said to be holding deadline day talks with Ralf Rangnick to force through a move from Old Trafford.
Negotiations between the two clubs were halted after Man Utd ‘wanted Lingard’s salary covered, a £2.5 million loan fee and £12 million if Newcastle avoid relegation’.
The report adds that Newcastle are optimistic that a deal could still happen as they believe ‘there may be some flexibility on those numbers’.
Speaking last week, Dimitar Berbatov admitted he hopes Lingard and Donny van de Beek can get a fresh start:
“I’m sad to see Anthony Martial leave United. But in a way I’m happy for him because he needed to go and he needs to play more minutes.
“Hopefully he will get that with Sevilla and he can show his full arsenal of quality in the Spanish league.
“Jesse Lingard also needs to go and find more game time. I was surprised that he didn’t stay at West Ham and they didn’t find a solution because he did so well there and I don’t know why he’s choosing to stay at United if he’s not going to play.
“If United aren’t going to play him. Then I don’t understand why there are any problems with him leaving the club.
“He’s still under 30, so he has enough time to play and enjoy football but just sitting on the bench at United, it’s obvious he isn’t going to play, I cannot accept that.”
