Newcastle United are reportedly set to battle it out with their Premier League rivals in the race to sign FC Metz star midfielder Boubacar Traore.
According to Football Insider, cash-rich Premier League side Newcastle United have reportedly joined a four-club race for the signature of the 20-year-old Metz defensive midfielder Boubacar Traore this summer.
The Magpies have already signed three players in a great start to their summer transfer business, with Matt Targett, Nick Pope, and Sven Botman through the door for a combined total of around £55 million in fees spent so far. But Newcastle are far from finished in this summer, with signing a mercurial winger and a prolific centre-forward high on Eddie Howe’s agenda.
However, the unfashionable position that Newcastle United must make a transfer priority this summer is defensive midfield. The Magpies played without a midfield enforcer or tough tackler for most of the previous campaign due to a season-ending injury to the club’s only recognised defensive-minded midfielder, Isaac Hayden, who has now been offloaded to Norwich.
Newcastle have lately been linked with an uninspiring move for Manchester United’s Scott McTominay. But with the Scot himself not renowned for his defensive acumen and reading of the game, the Magpies would be better off realigning their radars elsewhere. To that end, Metz midfield dynamo Boubacar Traore has now emerged as a better alternative.
The 20-year-old has been building an exciting reputation in France since making his breakthrough at the end of the 2020/21 season. This past season, he became a regular fixture in the starting XI, featuring in 28 games across all competitions, scoring once in the process.
A Mali youth international, he has so far featured nine times for the Under-20s. But such has been his meteoric rise, a senior cap for the talented youngster could well be on the cards soon. With the French side demoted to Ligue 2 after finishing 19th with 31 points last term, they are considering the selling their prized asset in to generate funds and value him at around the £18 million mark.
As such, a host of prominent Ligue 1 clubs are all determined to keep Traore in France. But with as many as four Premier League clubs, including Newcastle, Leicester, Southampton, and Nottingham Forest interested, it seems to have turned the player’s head as he wants to test himself in a better league.
While Traore does have limited experience in senior football, the Malian has shown he has the attributes to become a top-class defensive midfielder in the Premier League if nurtured properly. The 20-year-old defensive powerhouse is certainly a physical presence in the middle of the park and is versatile enough to play in a more conventional midfield role.
Newcastle do have the financial clout to match Metz’s asking price, but £18 million is still a steep figure for someone still unproven at the top level. And whether Eddie Howe would want to take a gamble by bringing in a relatively unknown quantity remains to be seen.
