Turkish Report Claims Newcastle 'Failed With €8m January Bid' for Galatasaray Attacker

Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez is reported as having seen a bid of €8m rejected by Galatasaray last month, following an attempt to bring Cape Verde winger Garry Rodrigues to St. James' Park.

That is according to Turkish source Gunes, who claim that the Spanish boss was keen to strengthen his side after suffering a poor run in the English top flight.

ANESH DEBIKY/GettyImages

"It was revealed that Rafa Benitez, who had a bad week in the Premier League and wanted to strengthen his team during the transfer period, [Benitez] wanted to sign Garry Rodrigues and the British club approached Galatasaray gate to transfer the Dutch star for 8 million Euros," Gunes reported.

If the report is to be believed, the Toon may have succeeded - had it not been for Stoke City. The Potters bought Senegalese midfielder Badou Ndiaye from the Turkish outfit during the January window, and the side's manager Faith Terim was quite averse to selling Rodrigues as well.

The 27-year-old Dutch winger has only been with Galatasaray for one year, having joined from PAOK after a season-and-a-half, and the Super Lig side would have always taken issue with letting him leave this quickly.

(You may also be interested in: Joey Barton Claims Arsenal Should Sign Newcastle Star Following Dominant Performance Against Man Utd)

Reports suggest that Newcastle will return with a second bid for the player in the summer, but Galatasaray are very unlikely to let the English side have their way without adding to the initial €8m.

Benitez's side sit in 13th place on the Premier League table at the moment, but safety is still a chief concern, with just two points separating them from 18th placed Southampton.