Newcastle United have made an approach to Marseille playmaker Florian Thauvin according to Le Parisien journalist Mathieu Grégoire. The highly rated French winger, who scored five goals in 36 Ligue 1 appearances last season, has been on The Magpies' radar for a number of years and it finally looks like the club have finally seen enough to convince them into going for a deal. The 22-year-old, who has 10 appearances for France U 21 to his name, has been heavily linked with a £15 million switch to Tottenham Hotspur this window having shown he's a class or two above the league over in France, despite never playing for Les Blue's full team yet. If Newcastle were to get Thauvin over the line, this could potentially be one of the most expensive summers in the club's history. One of Mike Ashley's 'preferred media partners', the Daily Mirror, ran a story that claimed United had a deal for Charlie Austin in the bag and were now on the hunt for West Brom's Saido Berahino. Considering that's at least £30 million worth of talent there, another £15 million on top of that for Thauvin, and the need to strengthen many other areas of the squad, Mike Ashely could spend anywhere upwards of £300 million this summer (that's how bad the squad is). Watch this space. If Newcastle could pull those three deals off then next season could be a very exciting one...
