Chelsea have now opened talks for one player who Newcastle United had identified as a possible target last month.
Newcastle’s summer transfer hopes have taken a bit of blow with their Premier League rivals looking to get a head start on the signing of Everton’s Amadou Onana who is in high demand.
A new report from Voetbalkrant is suggesting that the Blues are the first to open negotiations for the midfielder who looks very likely to leave Goodison Park.
Chelsea hoping to beat Newcastle to £60m star
Since joining the Toffees in 2022, Onana has been one of their standout performers in what has been a fairly poor group of players often threatened by relegation in the last few years.
The 22-year-old’s physicality and ability to use his length to intercept and tackle have made him a very useful tool to have for Sean Dyche who is naturally keen to keep the midfielder.
However, that looks like it’s going to prove to be very difficult to do especially with Everton’s financial troubles and having to pay for their new stadium which is set to open next season.
The likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Newcastle have all shown a real interest in the Belgian international and it’s believed that a fee of around £60m would be enough to secure his services.
Onana is exactly what Newcastle are looking for
Forgetting the price for a minute, Newcastle are absolutely desperate to bring in a defensive midfielder in the summer with the team being caught out countless times in the middle of the park this season.
In January it was believed that Kalvin Phillips was the number one target but as it turned out Newcastle weren’t actually willing to pay the loan fee that Manchester City were demanding.
Since then, Eddie Howe has been experimenting a little with his team as Lewis Miley became the latest to play in a deeper role against Nottingham Forest, pushing Bruno Guimaraes further forwards.
But ideally Howe would want to bring in someone like Onana in the summer who can really hold down that position and take the team to the next level.
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