More positive news in our pursuit of attacking reinforcements has been fed through the grapevine this morning with suggestions that Newcastle have offered a contract to Lyon striker Bafetimbi Gomis. The 28-year-old has long been on the Magpies' radar and we tried to sign him in the last two transfer windows only for the deal to continually hit a snag as we were put off by his representatives demanding a £1 million agent fee and, as a consequence, we cooled our interest. It now seems that Gomis is represented by Willie McKay and, according to the Mirror, that has encouraged the Club to offer him terms of £85,000-a-week only to be informed that he is pressing for a £100,000 weekly salary that would put him well out of our price range. A procession of clubs from around Europe are said to be chasing the France international who becomes a free agent next month, while we will also face stiff competition from Premier League rivals Sunderland, Swansea and West Ham for his signature. There is no doubting Gomis would be an excellent addition to our striking armoury for next season and 17 goals in 34 games last term speaks for itself. But we just can't see Mike Ashley forking out a six-figure salary for a player that will turn 29 in August.
