Newcastle United £32.5m transfer bid revealed by striker amid West Ham ‘interest’

Newcastle United’s search for a striker last summer could have looked a lot different - according to one of their main targets. According to RB Salzburg striker Noah Okafor, the Magpies had a bid of €38m (£32.5m) rejected by the Austrian club for his services.

Speaking to the Say Less Podcast, Okafor revealed that his club had knocked back a bid from Newcastle and how they managed to retain his services despite further interest from the Premier League and Bundesliga. Okafor said: “I had a lot of offers, four or five for sure.

“Newcastle was there, West Ham was there, Dortmund a bit too. Suddenly it started, I had so many clubs. 

“I think Newcastle bid 38 million euros. I didn’t even know. Salzburg always said ‘we want you to stay’.”

Okafor was among a host of strikers that were linked with a move to St James’ Park during the summer window. Hugo Ekitike, who would eventually go on to sign for PSG, was chief among those most linked with a move before the club opted to sign Alexander Isak from Real Sociedad.

During his debut campaign in the Premier League, Isak netted ten times in 22 appearances whilst Okafor scored seven times in 21 Austrian Bundesliga appearances. Despite suffering a metatarsal injury at the end of the season, Okafor is still regarded as one of the next bright prospects to come out of the Red Bull talent system and could be on the move this summer with Serie A duo Juventus and Roma credited with an interest in his services.