According to French outlet Le10Sport, Newcastle United are interested in signing Chelsea loanee Tiemoue Bakayoko this summer.
The 25-year-old midfielder is currently on loan at his former club Monaco after a loan spell with AC Milan last season. He joined the Blues in 2017 for £40 million. In his first season, he made 43 appearances under Antonio Conte and had scored three goals. However, he had a disappointing start to life in the Premier League and he wasn’t in the plans for new manager Maurizio Sarri. He was loaned to Milan on a season-long loan for €5 million with an option to make the move permanent.
French website Le10Sport claims that the Magpies are front-runners in landing the 25-year-old Frenchman, with also interest from Watford and West Ham. AC Milan, Nice and Paris Saint-Germain have shown interest as well. Bakayoko will have just two years remaining in his contract with Chelsea after this month. The Blues will be busy in the upcoming transfer window and they will be finding a suitor for the Frenchman.
Bakayoko has been impressive since returning to his former club AS Monaco and it looks like Jardim has utilised him properly. Jardim has nothing but praise for the 25-year-old.
“He wins a lot of balls, brings balance to the team. He passes the ball well and wins his duels. That is Bakayoko’s role,” Jardim said about Bakayoko.
The French international’s arrival would mean Newcastle will not use the option to permanently sign Sachalke’s on-loan midfielder Nabil Bentaleb. Bentaleb will cost just £8.5million but he has lost his place in the starting lineup to Jonjo Shelvey and Isaac Hayden. So, there’s low or no chance Bentakeb will be signed permanently.
