Newcastle United look set to carry on with their January spending spree when the summer rolls around, with the £20m signing of Moses Simon on the cards.
Simon has a £20m price tag on his head from current club Nantes. And while this is a fee any club could pay, it is the reported £100,000 per week wages Newcastle are offering which is marking them out as front-runners for the job.
According to OwnGoalNigeria, the winger is one of their top targets, coming more firmly in the Premier League clubs eye while on duty with Nigeria at AFCON.
The 26-year-old has appeared 19 times in Ligue 1 for the French side this season, scoring two goals and registering six assists.
Newcastle spent roughly £85m on incoming transfers in January, with four new faces on a permanent transfer and one on loan. With the exception of striker Chris Wood, each of the signings were defensively minded.
Therefore, while Newcastle will be likely to carry on looking for reinforcements to bolster their defence, they will also start to be more forward thinking in their acquisitions.
The Saudi-backed Public Investment Fund who took a controlling stake in the club earlier in the season will hope the significant investment in January will be enough to meet the clubs short-term goals of staying in the Premier League before they move on to the small matter of trying to achieve glory to win the Premier League and Champions League.
Comparing to a club in went through a similar situation, Manchester City, City are on course to win yet another Premier League but have still found the Champions League elusive, losing out to Chelsea in the final last year.
The signing of Simon likely comes as a way to keep Allan Saint-Maximin on his toes. Both play on the left wing but the French winger is nigh on undroppable for Eddie Howe’s side at the moment, though is prone to the odd dud performance.