Desperate Newcastle ‘to offer MORE than Cornet’s £17.5m release clause to land transfer after failed Maddison swoop’
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NEWCASTLE UNITED have turned their attention to signing Maxwel Cornet following their failed bid for James Maddison.
The Magpies recently had a £40million offer knocked back for the England international but are refusing to meet Leicester's £50m asking price.
Toon boss Eddie Howe has identified Burnley's Cornet as an alternative to the midfielder and is said to be willing to exceed his release clause.
That's according to the who claim the northeast club is willing to stump up more than the £17.5m Burnley want for the Ivory Coast international.
Newcastle are said to be willing to pay £25m in instalments so as not to breach Financial Fair Play rules.
Howe has been relatively busy in the transfer window this summer, adding three new players to his squad.
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Sven Botman, Matt Target and Nick Pope have all arrived at St James' Park from Lille, Aston Villa and Burnley respectively.
Howe, however, is "desperate" to bring in a new winger before the new Premier League season gets underway next weekend.
Speaking after Newcastle's pre-season win over Atalanta on Friday, he said: "Never say never, but as the days tick by it looks more and more unlikely.
"We’re desperate to try and improve the group with the right player.
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"I probably wouldn’t have hoped to be in that situation (no attacking signing), but that’s the transfer window.
"The most important thing is we get the right players, not the speed with which we get those players.
‘There is a slight frustration, but not aimed at anyone from our side, in terms of a frustration that we haven’t done business.
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"There is an understanding of the window and the mechanics of what goes into making transfers.
"There is frustration because you want to build your team and you want to get the adhesive nature of that team working quickly."