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Boubakary Soumaré refused Liverpool, Real Madrid, Dortmund, Chelsea & Newcastle last month

L’Équipe report that among the clubs that 20-year-old Lille midfielder Boubakary Soumaré rejected in January were Liverpool, Real Madrid, Dortmund, Chelsea, Wolves and Newcastle United.

Soumaré was entirely set against leaving Lille this month, feeling, as he revealed in a recent interview, as he felt that he needed at least one full season as a starter in Ligue 1 before making a move.

Newcastle’s attempts to convince Soumaré to join were intense and at times desperate. The board asked their francophone players to contact the youngster, with both Allan Saint-Maximin and Florian Lejeune blowing up the midfielder’s FaceTime to try to convince him to become a Magpie.

One of those FaceTime sessions included them giving him a virtual tour of the club’s training facilities. Soumaré was not convinced.