Newcastle United have a “real” interest in Marseille’s Bamba Dieng but they face several hurdles in their pursuit of the striker, claims a report.
The Sun claimed this week that the Magpies were weighing up whether to spend £15m on the 21-year-old attacker. And now a report in France has backed to the story. Dieng, who only joined Marseille in the summer, has been impressing in Ligue 1 for OM.
From his 14 Ligue 1 games the Senegal international has four goals and an assist. And has been impressing scouts from Europe after making the step up.
Dieng has joined up with the likes of Sadio Mane and Edouard Mendy in Cameroon for the Africa Cup of Nations. That will give plenty of interested suitors the opportunity to run the rule over the forward.
And, according to La Provence, via Sport Witness, Newcastle’s interest in the player is “real” despite no concrete offer as yet. However, West Ham, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace are also named as interested parties by the outlet.
But Dieng will not be easy to prise away from the south of France.
Marseille are “delighted” with his progress after arriving from Senegal football academy Diambars just six months ago.
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Marseille ‘counting on’ Bamba Dieng
OM boss Jorge Sampaoli is “counting on him”. So much so that the Ligue 1 club have already got him to sign a more lucrative contract.
The original deal ran until 2024, but as reported by RMC, that contract only offered relatively low wages of around €4k a month. That was excluding bonuses however.
His new deal now reflects his standing as a first-team regular, with further discussions planned at the end of the season over increases based on his performances.
With that in mind the striker is understood to be more than happy in France.
So while Newcastle are yet to lodge a formal offer for the player they do face a number of hurdles. Firstly, the player is not desperate to move. Secondly OM want to keep him and finally, there is rival interest in the player.
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