NEWCASTLE have failed in their “astronomical” offer to land Lille chief Luis Campos to oversee their transfers under soon-to-be Saudi owners, according to reports.
The Portuguese transfer guru is said to have rejected a huge bid from the Toon amid the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund’s potential £300million takeover of the club.
Luis Campos has reportedly rejected an “astronomical” move to Newcastle
The 55-year-old has been heavily linked with a move to the Premier League with Manchester United and Tottenham both fighting it out for the Lille chief.
Spurs boss Jose Mourinho has a great relationship with his fellow countryman after working together at Real Madrid and he has long been hoping to persuade the sporting director to North London.
French newspaper L’Equipe have now claimed that the Magpies’ new owners stumped up an enormous sum to entice the transfer maestro to St James’ Park.
The report says that Campos turned down the offer and has no intentions of leaving Lille.
The Toon will have the wealthiest owners in world football if their takeover bid is completed.
And it means the club will have a staggering transfer war-chest to entice football’s world stars to the Premier League club.
United chief Ed Woodward has spent over 18 months hunting for a sporting director at Old Trafford and is thought to have eyed Campos as the man for the job.
He decided against hiring the transfer guru to work with Mourinho when he was at United as he felt it would give the Special One too much power.
Campos, pictured with Jose Mourinho, has a great relationship with the Spurs boss
Campos discovered the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Fabinho, Bernardo Silva and Anthony Martial for Monaco.
He also took £72m Arsenal recruit Nicolas Pepe to Lille.
After leaving Monaco for the Lille gig, Campos boldly claimed: “I don’t want to appear arrogant, but I assure you I will create other masterpieces like this in my career.”
Mourinho has already raided Lille by appointing Joao Sacramento as his assistant manager and could be hoping his friend Campos will join him in a bid to push Spurs up from their current league position of eighth when the season resumes.
Europe’s biggest clubs including Arsenal, Barcelona, Chelsea and AC Milan have all looked to persuade Campos to become their sporting director.
The Premier League are yet to approve the Toon takeover after they received new documents over piracy accusations.
And the Magpies were dealt a blow with Serie A’s Roma reportedly contacting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
