Newcastle set sights on French forward
Not for the first time, Ligue 1 stars appear to be the flavour of the month among Premier League clubs and Newcastle are eager not to miss out on the act, reportedly targeting Kevin Gameiro as their successor to Andy Carroll, who was sold to Liverpool for £35 million in January.
Magpies boss Alan Pardew isn't expected to have the whole amount to spend on strengthening his squad but is likely to receive a large enough chunk to buy a reasonably high-profile replacement for the England attacker, and the Daily Mail claim that the Lorient striker is his number one target.
For the second campaign in a row, the 24-year-old heads into the final weekend of the French season in contention to be top scorer having netted 21 times to put his side on course for a fourth straight top-half finish, which will be secured with a point against Auxerre on Sunday at [3.05].
The Mail suggest that Pardew's latest offer for the forward, who is anticipated to move overseas this summer, was in the region of £10 million, with the idea of bidding big being to eliminate Valencia out of the race, as that is considered to be the France international's first choice destination.
Tottenham and Sunderland are the other interested parties in England, though neither are quite as committed to the idea of capturing Gameiro as Newcastle, who are also set to bring in compatriot Mehdi Abeid from Lens, with the 18-year-old encouraged to join by Hatem Ben Arfa and Cheik Tiote.
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Published: 25 May 2011
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