Lee Ryder has now revealed how much Newcastle United were told to pay to sign Axel Tuanzebe on loan in the summer transfer window.

The Lowdown: Tuanzebe preferred Newcastle

As per The Daily Telegraph, Tuanzebe preferred a move to St. James' Park, but the North East club could not afford his loan fee.

Instead, the central defender ended up moving to Aston Villa from Manchester United on loan for the rest of the 2021/22 season.

The Latest: Loan fee

Writing in his latest piece for The Chronicle, Ryder has revealed that Steve Bruce and the Tyneside outfit were told that they would have to pay an 'eye-watering' £5m fee to take Tuanzebe on loan.

The Magpies simply could not afford it, and so he ended up at Villa Park instead.

The Verdict: Shame

It is a shame that the Toon were not able to bring in Tuanzebe, as he would have given Bruce another handy option in the heart of the defence.

Described as ‘outstanding’ by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after a highly impressive display in the UEFA Europa League against Granada back in April, the Englishman is capable of playing at a high level, having also notched up a good amount of experience in playing in the Premier League (Transfermarkt).

Nonetheless, Tuanzebe is versatile and has a lot of potential at 23 years of age, and that could well have been fulfilled at NUFC.

In other news, find out which seven players Newcastle were offered here!