Newcastle United are showing interest in Cologne winger Said El Mala and maintaining contact over Lille forward Matias Fernandez-Pardo.
But Premier League adversaries Liverpool are waiting in the wings, if they fail to land their priority targets Yan Diomande of RB Leipzig or Paris St Germain’s Bradley Barcola.
Newcastle missed out on Osasuna’s Victor Munoz last week when, despite agreeing a fee, Liverpool stepped in to pay the £34.6m buy-out clause and stole the Spain winger away.
Daily Mail Sport revealed in May how Lille forward Matias Fernandez-Pardo was on Newcastle’s radar and he is being followed by other clubs as he plays for Belgium at the World Cup.
He can play as a striker or on either wing whereas Munoz was viewed as a direct replacement for Anthony Gordon who has joined Barcelona.
Said El Mala has been watched by Newcastle from afar but could now come back into sharp focus.
Cologne winger Said El Mala is among the players Newcastle are interested in this summer
Brighton tried and failed to convince him to join prior to the summer before Brentford made an offer worth £43m, which was accepted by Cologne, only for El Mala’s mother, his representative, to say it wasn’t the move for them. She had also wanted a deal for his older brother Malek, a centre forward.
The younger El Mala, 19-year-old Said, scored 13 goals last season and delivered five assists. The Germany U21 international excites as he is fast, skilful and adept at scoring from distance.
Newcastle have also been offered Bayer Leverkusen winger Kerim Alajbegovic.
The 18-year-old has a number of clubs courting him from Italy while Arsenal, Aston Villa and Leeds have shown an interest too.
Alajbegovic has been trying to impress with Bosnia at the World Cup but Newcastle are unlikely to pursue him as it stands.
