Newcastle United are done with the January transfer window after bringing in the trio of Nabil Bentaleb from Schalke 04, Valentino Lazaro from Inter Milan and Danny Rose from Tottenham Hotspur all on loan.

Boss Steve Bruce has revealed that a loan move for Chelsea’s Olivier Giroud fell through, and he also claimed the Magpies failed in a bid for a mystery midfielder which would have broken the club’s transfer-record.

Bruce said: “The bid was accepted but unfortunately the player wanted to stay where he was. He was our number one target.

“We were close to breaking the record again but couldn’t get it over the line.”

Newcastle broke their transfer record after splashing £40million on Brazilian striker Joelinton in the summer, and it appears they were willing to break the bank for another signing a few days ago.

Sky Sports journalist Keith Downie thinks the player in question is Lille’s Boubakary Soumare, reacting thus to Bruce’s update on Twitter:

I’m fairly certain the midfielder Newcastle came close to signing was Lille’s Boboukary Soumaré. They had a bid of around £35m accepted, but the player chose not to come. Newcastle & Steve Bruce unwilling to confirm this morning #NUFC #DeadlineDay

— Keith Downie (@SkySports_Keith) January 31, 2020

The 20-year-old is also on the radar of the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United, and did reveal earlier this month that he isn’t keen on leaving Lille midway through the campaign.

Boubakary has played in the Champions League already, and he definitely won’t be keen to settle for less at this stage of his young career.