FC Twente boss Steve McClaren has told Newcastle United they need to double their £8 million bid for Luuk de Jong before the club will sell their prized forward.

Newcastle made their first formal offer for the player earlier this week after tracking the Dutch sensation since last year. The 21-year-old scored 25 goals in 35 games this past season, 39 goals in 72 games for Twente in total and has been dubbed as “the next Robin Van Persie” in some quarters.

Ex-England boss McClaren, now in his second spell at Newcastle, has revealed in the past he would struggle to keep de Jong if he wanted to leave for pastures new but is now standing firm and now wants £16 million for his forward.

As for Newcastle’s bid earlier this week, it is also interesting to note that the club have made the move before Demba Ba exits the club, unless those reports that a deal with Turkish side Galatasary had already been agreed for the Senegalese international? Perhaps the move for de Jong is not as dependent on Ba leaving as we previously thought.

You can read our original report on Newcastle’s bid HERE.

source – the mirror

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