Newcastle United have received encouragement from Burnley in their bid to sign Maxwel Cornet this summer.
That’s according to i News, who add that the Magpies are yet to reach an agreement with the Clarets.
Talk of Cornet to Newcastle has intensified over the weekend, with the Magpies appearing to step up their efforts to sign the Ivorian winger.
His Burnley side kicked off the new Championship season on Friday night, beating Huddersfield Town 1-0. However, Cornet wasn’t even in the squad.
That came after TalkSPORT claimed that Newcastle were ready to trigger his £17.5million release clause. However, reports since then suggest that this was wide of the mark.
Newcastle yet to agree a fee with Burnley for Cornet
Talk of Newcastle being ready to meet Cornet’s release clause appeared fanciful, and that looks to be the case.
i News claim that the Magpies and Burnley are still apart on agreeing a fee for the 25-year-old. That clearly suggests that Newcastle aren’t ready to trigger his release clause, otherwise there would be no need for negotiations.
But the positive thing is that Newcastle have received encouragement from Burnley that a deal can be done. He’s an exciting player, and one who would certainly add more quality to Eddie Howe’s attack.
Cornet enjoyed a strong debut season in the Premier League, scoring nine goals. He earned a lot of praise along the way, with Kolo Toure calling him ‘unbelievable‘.
He was previously a star for Lyon too, where he played alongside Bruno Guimaraes. Cornet was often a problem for Pep Guardiola and Manchester City, with the attacker heavily involved in two Champions League games against the Premier League champions.
He scored a brace against Man City in 2018, which led to Guardiola admitting he was ‘impressed‘.
It would be great to see him cause Manchester City similar problems this season in a Newcastle shirt. However, a fee needs to be agreed.
Hopefully we see some movement early this week. Then there’s a chance he could be involved on Saturday against Nottingham Forest. Although perhaps we’re getting ahead of ourselves…