Newcastle United have made an offer for Malaysian wonder kid Luqman Hakim, according to Arena (via NUFC Blog).

According to The Guardian, the 18-year old was on the list of ‘top 60 young footballers of 2019’ last year and has been tipped to make the move to Europe in the upcoming summer transfer window.

Hakim secured a deal of five years with Belgian first division team K.V. Kortrijk last year, which is owned by Vincent Tan, who English football fans will also recall is the owner of Cardiff City.

He graduated from a football development programme in Malaysia and seemed to graduate with flying colours, and was going to be rewarded by being able to train with Cardiff until he turned 18 in March earlier in this year.

However, that arrangement was postponed, and thus he has been playing with Malaysian giants FA Selangor instead.

Lionel Foy is the agent of the prospect and has claimed there are lots of teams in the Premier League interested in securing the signature of the striker, however, it is not known yet if he would be allowed to be given a work permit first that would allow him to play in the English top flight.

Nevertheless, if the Magpies' offer for Hakim is accepted by his club, then it could possibly be a sign that the proposed takeover at St. James' Park will go through.

Given his strong connections in Asia with Malaysia, the youngster could attract more supporters from that part of the world, and could be an incentive for the Saudis especially to push through their £300 million bid.

Only time will tell whether their deal with Mike Ashley goes through, but if it does, Hakim could be a catalyst for that given his Asian connections.

Geordies, do you see any link between the Hakim offer and the Saudi takeover? Comment below!