Newcastle United have again been offered Hungary international centre-back Attila Szalai after Sevilla continue to play hardball on Diego Carlos.
Filling in the centre-back slot was again identified at Newcastle's Jeddah transfer summit this week but United are staying silent on reports from France linking them with Bruno Guimarães of Lyon.
Lyon also refused to comment on the €40million bid story today although fans may remember how much of a hard bargain the French club's owner Jean Michel Aulas likes to drive in deals after a series of collapsed efforts in 2014 to sign Clement Grenier during the days of shopping in Ligue 1.
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Guimarães is represented by the same Bertolucci Sports agency as Diego Carlos.
Meanwhile, defender Szalai is playing in Turkey with Fenerbahce but the 24-year-old's agency ROGON have solid links with Newcastle's head of recruitment, Steve Nickson.
Most notably, it was ROGON and Nickson who oversaw Newcastle's £40million deal for Joelinton. Most of the work on that particular transfer went through while Rafa Benitez was in dispute over a new contract at United in 2019 before the button was pushed just days into Steve Bruce's tenure at the club.
Now Szalai has emerged as a possible option with just five days left of the window.
The 23-times capped Hungary star would cost around £17million with the 24-year-old keen to test himself on the bigger stage.
Guimarães has been looked at closely by Newcastle and the club have an existing dossier on him which was compiled under the previous ownership's model.
But United or Lyon would not confirm whether a formal bid has been placed.
With Man. United stalling any approach for Jesse Lingard, Newcastle remain in contact with Dele Alli's representatives.
Meanwhile, the Carlos deal remains a game of transfer brinkmanship over in Seville.
On the one hand, the La Liga club are suggesting that they don't want to sell him until June.
And on the other, those close to his agent and the player say they won't budge until they see an overall package for the player that would be worth close to £60million once add-ons and incentives are factored in.
The fact Carlos' agent will work in the background to get a pay day for his player - either a new deal at Sevilla or a big money January move - means the door remains slightly ajar.
For all the negativity in the last couple of days on transfers, United officials remain confident they can pull together deals to see them through the rest of the season.
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