Newcastle United: Magpies have bid rejected for Boubakary Soumare

Newcastle United have had a bid rejected for Lille midfielder Boubakary Soumare, according to Fabrizio Romano.
As per a tweet from the football transfer guru, the bid equated to €35m with add-ons included, which is the equivalent of around £32.4m.
Lille have turned down a bid [€35m add ons includer] from Newcastle for the French midfielder Boubacary Soumaré. ⚪️⚫️ #NUFC #transfers
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 10, 2020
Whether the Tyneside club will come in with an improved offer for Soumare in the transfer window is another question, but it is certainly a bit of a blow to have a bid rejected for him based on what he could offer at St James’ Park.
The French under-21 international won a relatively impressive three duels per game in Ligue 1 last season and also averaged one successful tackle and one successful dribble per match (via Sofascore).
Does Soumare start for Newcastle?
Yes

No

Comparing his statistics in France’s highest division to the likes of Newcastle midfielders Isaac Hayden, Jonjo Shelvey and Sean Longstaff in the Premier League last season, Soumare averaged the most dribbles and has the highest pass accuracy (per Whoscored).
Although he plays in a different league, these are still impressive stats and perhaps show that Soumare would be a success in the Premier League. At just 21 years of age as well, the midfielder still has a lot of time to develop as a player and hopefully fulfil his potential.
Steve Bruce may well be able to help him do that in the northeast, but it looks as if the Magpies will have to fork out a large sum of money if they want to bring Soumare to St James’ Park.
Geordies, would Soumare be a good signing? Comment below with your views!
