Newcastle target Rayan Cherki and Jonathan David

Newcastle United are looking to strengthen their side in January and have set their sights on Ligue 1 with Olympique Lyonnais’ Rayan Cherki (21) and Lille OSC’s Jonathan David (24) both targets, according to The I. 

Lyon don’t want to sell Cherki this January, as has been stated, however, they may have little choice. The DNCG, French football’s financial watchdog, provisionally relegated OL, forcing them to make sales this winter. Other players such as Gift Orban, Ernest Nuamah, Saïd Benrahma, and Maxence Caqueret have all been earmarked for departures, as per L’Équipe, however, if they don’t garner significant interest, or significant fees, players such as Cherki may have to be reluctantly offloaded. Foot Mercato have quoted a price between €30-35m for the France youth international.

Lille’s David is also a target. LOSC president Olivier Létang ruled out a departure for the Canada international in January when speaking to RMC Sport. A move at the end of the season looks more likely for David, whose contract expires this summer. Both David and Cherki are major targets for Newcastle in the short-term.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle