newcastle united He appears to have missed out on a contract with Mio Backhaus as he looks to beat Europa League finalists Freiburg.
BILD reports that Freiburg have dropped a 'transfer bomb' with the imminent signing of the 22-year-old.
Backhaus deal resolved
The newspaper reports that when current Noah Atubolu was in Istanbul for the Europa League final against Aston Villa in what was likely to be his last match for the club, they were busy signing his successor.
According to BILD, the deal for Mio Backhaus has been 'virtually finalized'. Freiburg should make an announcement in the coming days. The German side will pay €15m for the U21 international.
This will include €3m in performance-related add-ons. This would represent a transfer record for both him and Werder Bremen.
Freiburg beat out the competition to secure the deal. Newcastle United and Brighton are pursuing Backhaus. There was also interest from Serie A sides.
Sport Witness covered a report this week Saying that the future of Backhaus would be resolved within 14 days. At the time, Newcastle seemed a likely destination.
Instead, the deal has gone to Freiburg. The fact that they could still offer European football despite the defeat to Aston Villa was probably a major contributing factor.
goalkeeper carousel
He will be part of an exciting era of goalkeepers in the Bundesliga. His move to Freiburg opens the door for Werder Bremen to sign Karl Heyn on a permanent basis from Arsenal. Current Freiburg number one Noah Atubolu will also move on.
Reports have linked him to Tottenham in recent months. BILD report that he is expected to fetch just over €20m for the German club. Presumably, that money will be used to pay for the €15m transfer of Mio Backhaus.
Either way, it appears Newcastle have missed out on this opportunity as they look to improve their goalkeeper options this summer.
