Newcastle United face paying a club-record fee to sign Crystal Palace forward Alexander Sorloth in the summer transfer window, according to AsistAnaliz.
Sorloth is currently on loan in the Turkish Super Lig with Trabzonspor as part of a two-year deal, who hold a €6million (£5m) option to buy and are expected to activate the clause at the end of what has been a remarkable debut campaign for the 24-year-old.
Despite only scoring once and assisting a single goal in 20 appearances for Palace across all competitions, Sorloth has been involved in 30 this term with 24 goals and six assists to his name over 34 outings.
The 22-cap Norway international has only failed to be involved in the scoring during five Super Lig fixtures this season, while striking a hat-trick against Kasimpasa plus braces against Kayserispor and Besiktas JK.
His displays in Turkey have not gone unnoticed, though, as Newcastle were credited with an interest in Sorloth earlier this month and said to have planned a scouting mission on the forward.
Brighton & Hove Albion and French Ligue 1 side AS Monaco were also linked with potential scouting missions on Sorloth amid our interest, and each club now appears to have been joined by Spanish giants Real Madrid.
Would you sign Sorloth in the summer?
Yes, absolutely
Yes, but not at €50m
No, he isn't good enough
AsistAnaliz claim Los Blancos were in attendance at Vodafone Park on Sunday to watch Trabzonspor’s trip to Besiktas, after which they enquired into how much it would cost to sign Sorloth following his brace.
Trabzonspor chiefs are understood to have informed Madrid that it would take a staggering €50m (£41.9m) to lure Sorloth away in the upcoming summer window – a price which astonished the Santiago Bernabeu natives.
The Senol Gunes Stadium natives are well aware of the profit they could look to make on Sorloth given his exploits this term, which has seen the Palace-owned striker score more goals (19) than any other player in the Super Lig this season.
If Newcastle are more inclined to lure Sorloth back to the Premier League at Trabzonspor’s asking price, it would make the towering 6 ft 4 striker our new record signing eclipsing the £40m spent on Joelinton last summer.
It would also be the third time in four windows that we have broken our transfer record, after Joelinton’s move from TSG Hoffenheim smashed the £21m spent on Miguel Almiron in January 2019.
In other Newcastle United news, a 5 ft 8 Toon talent has been linked with a move away from St. James’ Park.