Newcastle go to war with Man Utd over Serie A’s ultimate midfielder as major contract offer sent
Newcastle United are attempting to steal a top Serie A performer away from Manchester United and have sent the player a contract proposal, according to a report.
The huge funds available to Eddie Howe have helped him create a top-class team including stars such as Alexander Isak, Sven Botman, Bruno Guimaraes and Kieran Trippier. Those players were all important as Newcastle enjoyed a great campaign in 2022-23, reaching the Carabao Cup final and finishing fourth in the Premier League.
Newcastle now look set for a big summer as they aim to prepare the team for an assault on the Champions League, while also trying to get closer to the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal in the league.
One player who might head to St James’ Park ahead of next season is James Maddison. He will almost certainly leave Leicester City as he has proven himself to be far too good for the Championship.
Tottenham are battling Newcastle for the playmaker. But Newcastle have a big advantage as they can offer Maddison Champions League football, whereas Spurs will not play in any European competition next term.
Newcastle are also expected to move for Arsenal left-back Kieran Tierney. The Scot wants to leave Arsenal after losing his starting spot to Oleksandr Zinchenko and Newcastle appear set to pounce. Should Tierney join, then he would likely come in to replace Dan Burn on the left side of defence.
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One of Newcastle’s most ambitious aims is to bring in France international Adrien Rabiot from Juventus. He has just enjoyed a fantastic season, registering 11 goals and six assists in 48 matches.
It could be argued that Rabiot has been the best midfielder in Serie A this term, although Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Nicolo Barella have also been very impressive and may not agree with that statement.
Newcastle vying with Man Utd for Juventus ace
Despite Rabiot’s top displays, it is unclear whether he will be remaining at Juve beyond this summer. His contract expires at the end of June and the Bianconeri have yet to tie him down to fresh terms.
Man Utd have been tipped to go in for Rabiot again, having decided against moving for him last summer.
But according to Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport (via Sport Witness), the Red Devils might be beaten to the transfer by Newcastle.
Howe’s team have ‘expressed their interest’ to Rabiot and have also begun preliminary talks over a move by sending him a contract offer.
Even though Newcastle are a very rich club, they do not want to spend huge sums on wages. As such, they have supposedly offered Rabiot €5m a season, which works out at around £82,000 a week. That is actually less than what the 28-year-old currently earns in Italy.
Rabiot is represented by his mother, Veronique, who is known to be a very tough negotiator. Therefore, it would be expected that Rabiot would want a big wage increase to leave Juve.
But Newcastle remain quietly confident they will convince him to join. The main reason for this is the fact they can offer him Champions League football, which is a competition Rabiot ‘appreciates a lot’.
Juve, in contrast, only managed to finish seventh in Serie A after receiving a 10-point penalty in May. This means they will play in the Europa Conference League next season.
Of course, Man Utd finished above Newcastle in the Prem last term and will also play in the Champions League. This means they could still convince Rabiot on a move to Old Trafford instead.
But as things stand, Newcastle have made the first move and are currently slightly ahead of Man Utd in the chase for the former Paris Saint-Germain star.
Meanwhile, a sensational report claims Newcastle have sent Real Madrid an offer for one of their best young players.
