Newcastle United look set to miss out on another summer transfer target with Turkish wonderkid Arda Guler having made up his mind where his next destination will be.
The Magpies met with Arda Guler‘s family in Dubai last season to talk to them about the 18-year-old moving to Newcastle. They continued to scout him and even had another meeting with his representatives over a summer switch.
Unfortunately for Newcastle, the Guler’s brilliant performances for Fenerbahce and his call up to the Turkish national side where he scored against Wales brought a lot of attention his way.
Arda Guler had attracted a lot of interest so it was never going to be easy
Newcastle were just one of many clubs clamouring for the ‘superstar‘ who has been compared to Lionel Messi and it was long believed that Guler had his eye on a move to Spain, specifically Real Madrid.
It now looks as if he’s about to get his wish as Fabrizio Romano tweeted an update in the early hours saying: “Real Madrid are working on the formal paperwork and documents to get Arda Güler deal done today — Real want all signatures to feel sure.
“Proposal is worth €20m plus add-ons, 20% sell on clause, taxes, commission. Real, confident to get it done in 24/48h.”
It’s well known that Arda Guler had a €17.5million (£15million) release clause but Romano said last week that it wasn’t a straight-forward clause because of all of the add-ons and commissions that were involved in the deal, but it seems like Real Madrid have stepped up and agreed to them all.
Newcastle will have plenty more similar targets in mind
This one will come a kick in the teeth for Newcastle because they put a lot of work into Arda Guler, but as I said, there were a lot of other interested parties and when your dream club comes in for you, that’s where you go.
I’ll be keeping an eye on him next season to see if we really missed out or if his talent was amplified by playing in a lesser league as can often be the case.
Onwards and upwards, I’m sure Dan Ashworth has a Plan B and C and D and …
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