Liverpool & Newcastle United target spotted at St James’ Park - transfer decision already made

Nice midfielder Khephren Thuram is on Tyneside to take part in the inaugural Sela Cup at St James’ Park this weekend. The Ligue 1 side will be joined by La Liga outfit Villarreal, Fiorentina from Serie A and Newcastle.

Thuram was named in the Nice starting line-up for the Sela Cup opener against Villarreal on Saturday afternoon.

But Newcastle won’t see the 22-year-old in action against them as they only face Fiorentina on August 5 (3:30pm kick-off) and Villarreal on August 6 (4pm kick-off).

Nice will face Fiorentina and Villarreal as part of the tournament which will be decided by a head to head points system. Teams will be awarded the standard three points for a win and one point for a draw but with the added twist of an extra point for every goal scored - promoting attacking football.

Newcastle have shown a keen interest in Thuram this summer, with head of recruitment Steve Nickson monitoring the player before landing top target Sandro Tonali. This weekend gives Newcastle the chance to take a closer look at the player in action at St James’ Park.

But according to L’Equipe, Tonali has decided to commit his future to Nice for the coming season following interest from the likes of Newcastle, Arsenal and Liverpool.

Thuram - who scored twice in 48 appearances for Nice last season - has been valued at £52million and attracted serious interest from Liverpool before they turned their attention to Southampton midfielder Romeo Lavia.

It had previously been claimed that Liverpool had verbally agreed personal terms with Thuram which was quickly played down by the club.