Newcastle United ‘Close To An Agreement’ For Target After Discussions ‘Stepped Up’ | OneFootball

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Newcastle United are now ‘close to an agreement’ to sign Belgium winger Matias Fernandez-Pardo from Lille.

The Magpies have been on the hunt for extra attacking reinforcements and in the last week, Fernandez-Pardo emerged as a serious option.

Lille’s president Olivier Letang has put a huge €70m asking price on his head, which has been enough to scare off RB Leipzig and Atletico Madrid.

Letang would rather keep hold of Fernandez-Pardo and not sell this summer, but it seems Newcastle have done enough to change that stance in France.

According to French journalist Santi Aouna, Newcastle are now ‘close to an agreement’ for Fernandez-Pardo after they ‘stepped up the discussions’ with Lille.

How much Newcastle are prepared to pay to bring the Belgian to the Premier League is unclear, but it is suggested that they are getting close to the amount Lille are demanding to let him go.

Given Newcastle had an offer of around €40m for the winger knocked back, upping it to close to €70m would be a major increase on the part of the Magpies.

Lille’s stance was also boosted by the big money sale of Ayyoub Bouaddi to Manchester City, which means they have no financial pressures.

Newcastle have focused on young and up and coming stars this summer and Fernandez-Pardo would fit comfortably into that category.

For Lille, the sale would represent another huge pay day on the back of Bouaddi being sold.

With time running out in the transfer window though, the Magpies will need to get all the details ironed out, along with preparing Fernandez-Pardo’s contract at St James’ Park.

The Belgium winger will also need to be put through a medical ahead of completing the move to Matthias Jaissle’s men.