Astonishing: Newcastle target allegedly worth more than PIF's club-record fee - opinion

Newcastle United could be set to make a major statement if they can complete the signing of Clement Lenglet this summer.

Newcastle United certainly haven’t been scared to flex their financial muscles in the past few months as their business in the January transfer window showed as they brought in a number of players that have helped them become one of the Premier League’s in-form teams and given them a great chance of staying in the division.

If they do stay up, then they will be able to move into the next stage of their project to become one of the biggest clubs in the world. With ambitions to be a big club comes the chance to spend big, and that appears to be what they are planning to do.

According to reports in Spain, Newcastle United are continuing to show an interest in Barcelona defender Lenglet ahead of a possible move in the summer transfer window. Reports in January from French outlet Jeunes Footeux claimed that Newcastle had made a loan-to-buy offer for the French centre-back, however, Barcelona rejected this proposal.

The 26-year-old currently has a value with the CIES Football Observatory –  a database that uses an econometric approach to assess the transfer value of professional footballers on a scientific basis – of between €50m – €70m (£41.6m – £58.3m). If the club can get a deal done for anything in that range, then it would break their club record set by the signing of Joelinton in 2019 that stands at £40m.

Interestingly, Barcelona reportedly wanted  €20 million for the defender in January.

TIF Verdict on Clement Lenglet and Newcastle United…

Newcastle have mainly been somewhat been conservative when it comes to their business so far under the PIF regime, bringing in players from other Premier League