Tuesday, 14th June, 2011
Newcastle United are hoping to step up their pursuit of Saint-Etienne midfielder Blaise Matuidi, but face opposition from a whole host of clubs for the player’s signature.
According to French source L’Equipe, the Magpies are hoping to steal a march on their rivals and dream of pairing Matuidi with new signing Yohan Cabaye. And taken together with Newcastle’s interest in Lille forward Gervinho, the Magpies may well have made a triple swoop on Ligue 1 by the end of the summer.
However, Saint-Etienne star Matuidi is a man in demand, and is also being tracked by Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain, Lyon and Roma.
And for any club wishing to buy the midfielder, the bar has been set high.
"We don’t want to sell without cover next year", said Saint-Etienne CEO Roland Romeyer to Le Parisien.
"We want to continue to grow.
"If a player wants to go, we need everyone to gain from it. We have time, there is no problem, and we have no obligation to sell until 30th June."
At that time it is thought Matuidi’s buy-out clause becomes active, a clause set at €12M. Despite the midfielder rated closer to the €8M bracket, it seems clear that any interested party will have to meet the clause amount to force Saint-Etienne to part with their midfield schemer.
Matuidi is under contract with Saint-Etienne until 2013, but is thought ready to experience a new challenge.
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