Newcastle United have had a €8m bid for Faitout Maouassa rejected by Rennes

L’Équipe report that Premier League side Newcastle United have had a bid worth around €8m rejected by Rennes for left-sided French youth international Faitout Maouassa.

The 20-year-old is currently on loan at Nîmes, but has struggled for playing time. The Magpies are not alone in their interest, with OGC Nice having made a formal enquiry for the former Nancy man 3 weeks ago over a possible transfer.

However, Rennes refused to play ball, and Les Aiglons moved on to other targets. Newcastle’s offer had been on SRFC President Olivier Létang’s desk for several days before today, with the north English side aware of the competition for Maouassa, and their offer was reportedly conditioned on the entire fee being paid immediately, which seems surprising owing to NUFC’s current financial situation.

In any case, it was not enough to convince Rennes, who rejected the offer and view the player to have considerable potential. Maouassa has however always wanted a move to the Premier League, but his camp finds the timing a little difficult to stomach.

This is because Maouassa wants to make the France U21s squad for this summer’s European Championships, and he believes he is more likely to achieve that with consistent playing time at Nîmes in the 2nd half of this campaign than with a move to the Premier League and no guaranteed starting XI spot.

As it stands, it is difficult to see how Rennes will let go of the versatile youngster this month.

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