Newcastle preparing £43m bid for ‘very talented’ youngster Bruno Guimaraes knows well

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Newcastle United are now preparing a bid for Bruno Guimaraes’ former Olympic Lyonnaise teammate Rayan Cherki.

According to reports in France Newcastle are very keen on France U21 star Rayan Cherki from Lyon and are preparing a bid for the midfielder Laurent Blanc described as ‘very talented‘.

French outlet Le Foot (via French Football Weekly) has reported that Newcastle are poised to make a €50million (£43million) bid for the 19-year-old.

Cherki has been on Newcastle’s radar for a while

The Magpies have had Cherki on their radar for a while and could now be set to make their move, but given his talent it’s unlikely that it’s going to be an easy move to complete.

Cherki was starting to make his mark in the Lyon first-team when Bruno Guimaraes was still playing there before his switch to Newcastle. Last season he scored five goals and provided six assists in 39 appearances for Lyon in all competitions.

He then went on to play for France U21s in the U21 Euros which finished last night with England lifting the trophy. He scored twice and provided one assist for the French team which reached the Quarter Finals. The same tally as the Player of the Tournament, Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon.

The Algerian born midfielder can play pretty much anywhere in the middle of the park, his versatility being just one of this key traits. His stats on FBref who compare players across the top five European leagues are absolutely outstanding.

He’s in the high 90th percentile for almost every attacking metric. His pass completion percentage being the only thing that lets him down in that regard. He’s in the top one percent for successful take-ons and top two for progressive carries.

Newcastle could bag one of Europe’s most exciting young talents

His defensive stats aren’t great, which is standard for someone who plays the way Cherki does, but at just 19 he’s still got plenty to learn in the game and Eddie Howe could coach some defensive sensibilities into him.

Watching him play in the Euros this summer he looks absolutely magic with the ball at his feet, he has a similar skill-set to Allan Saint-Maximin in that regard so he could be the next entertainer at St James’ Park if this move comes off.

Cherki has just switched agents too which is usually the sign of a player with itchy feet. Newcastle will face competition for Cherki, no doubt, with Chelsea said to be interested. Hopefully Newcastle can join them and finally get one over on the Blues.