Newcastle held talks over signing 'wonderful' Premier League defender, but he's joining Atletico Madrid instead

By Sam Preston

Newcastle have showed an interest in signing Caglar Soyuncu from Leicester amid his dwindling contract situation.

That is according to 90Min, who also claim that Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool showed keenness to land the defender on a free transfer.

But the report says that the Turkish international will join Atletico Madrid when his contract expires at the end of the season.

Both the Reds and the Magpies failed to progress their interest and now the centre half looks set for the Spanish capital.

Newcastle and Liverpool showed an interest in signing Caglar Soyuncu

Newcastle have showed an interest in other players from the King Power Stadium since their takeover.

James Maddison is a long-term target, while Youri Tielemans is another player who will be out of contract this summer, but the Belgian is not seemingly as close as Soyuncu to a decision on his future.

The Magpies beat the Foxes en route to the EFL Cup final, where they lost to Manchester United, but Soyuncu was an unused substitute that night.

Soyuncu took a little while to adjust to English football, before he got his opportunity to impress when Harry Maguire left in 2019.

But he was then an impressive part of the side which narrowly missed out on the Champions League spots twice, with Stuart Pearce calling him ‘wonderful‘.

Now, he seems set to join Diego Simeone, who demands high standards from his defenders, and faces a fight to guide Atletico to Champions League qualification once again this season.