Newcastle wanted to sign ‘beyond talented’ player last year, now he’s off to Man City for £55m
Newcastle United wanted to sign Jeremy Doku last year, but now the opportunity has passed them by.
The Belgian winger is one of the most exciting young players to watch in Europe today, and unsurprisingly is someone who Newcastle’s head of recruitment Steve Nickson really likes.
Newcastle were linked with signing Doku from Rennes more than a year ago. It was reported by the Chronicle in February 2022 that the Magpies were scouting the speedster, and were considering a summer move as the new owners planned another spending spree.
There certainly was a spending spree, with more than £100million being spent on Alexander Isak, Sven Botman, Matt Targett and Nick Pope in the summer of 2022.
However, there was no deal for Doku, despite him looking like someone who could really thrive at St James’ Park.
He was valued at £22million back then, but now he is set to sign for one of Newcastle’s Premier League rivals for more than double that amount.
Jeremy Doku set to sign for Manchester City
According to Fabrizio Romano, Doku is currently undergoing a medical at Manchester City. He is set to leave Rennes and join Pep Guardiola’s side for £55million.
The 21-year-old looks set to be Riyad Mahrez’s replacement at the Etihad, with the Algerian now playing alongside Allan Saint-Maximin in Saudi Arabia for Al Ahli.
The fact that Guardiola believes that Doku is good enough for this Man City side just shows how good he is, and suggests Newcastle have majorly missed out.
If we wanted to sign him, last summer was our chance. But a move did not materialise, and now the ‘beyond talented‘ attacker is going to join the treble winners, the Premier League champions, the Champions League holders, the best team in the world – Manchester City.
Whether the money was not there or Newcastle simply wanted to invest elsewhere, the opportunity to sign Doku has passed Eddie Howe by. Now we will soon discover if he is going to become one that got away for the Magpies.
