The rumor surrounding Newcastle United making an offer to sign Youssoufa Moukoko is continuing to swirl, with a new claim from Germany stating how much money the Magpies put on the table for the 18-year-old.
Moukoko’s Borussia Dortmund contract is set to expire in the summer, leading to speculation over a move away from the Bundesliga side at the end of the season.
Newcastle was linked shortly after the World Cup, and the Evening Standard claimed on Tuesday morning that discussions between Moukoko and the Magpies over a £150,000-a-week move to St James’ Park had taken place.
Now Patrick Berger, the chief reporter at German outlet SPORT1, has provided some more information on Newcastle’s ‘verbal offer’ for one of the highest-rated young players on the planet today.
Newcastle offer Moukoko a huge signing for a fee
Berger has backed up the Evening Standard’s claim about Newcastle’s ‘verbal offer’ to Moukoko. He has posted on Twitter that the Magpies offered the striker a salary worth almost £8million-a-year, which works out at just more than £ 150,000 a week.
That is a substantial salary for anyone, let alone a guy who only turned 18 in November. But that isn’t the only financial inducement Newcastle has offered Moukoko.
According to the SPORT1 reporter, the Magpies also offered him a signing-on fee of £26.5 million.
This merely goes to show that the phrase “free transfer” no longer has any meaning. After saving money on a transfer price, clubs are now required to pay the player enormous signing-on fees – virtually the same amount they would have spent as a transfer fee.
A signing bonus of £26.5 million is astronomical. That is more than Burnley paid us for Chris Wood.
Such a lucrative offer proves that Newcastle is really keen to bring Moukoko to St James’ Park. That is not a surprise, as he is tipped to become one of the next big stars in world football.
He is already excelling at Dortmund, where he has 10 goal contributions in 14 appearances this season. He’s got the seal of approval from Erling Haaland, who believes his former teammate is ‘amazing‘.
Newcastle wants to bring the ‘amazing’ Moukoko to the Premier League and is prepared to commit a huge financial amount to make a deal possible. However, it might not be that simple.
Berger believes that Moukoko actually wants to stay at Dortmund, and is set for a fresh round of contract talks with the German club.
If he does agree on a new Dortmund contract in the coming weeks, there will certainly be an argument that Newcastle has merely been used for leverage. But until that moment, there remains hope that he could come to Tyneside in 2023.
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