After a summer of chaos at St James' Park, it has now emerged that Newcastle United actually outbid Liverpool to sign a towering defender before he made his transfer decision.
Newcastle's nightmare summer
With Champions League football secured and PIF ready to spend, it looked as though Newcastle were about to enjoy their best summer yet under the Saudi owners. Eddie Howe also revealed his desire to get any business done early. By the time that pre-season got underway, he wanted to have his squad ready to go.
Anthony-Elanga
That proved to be far from the case, however. Whilst it wasn't for the want of trying, the Magpies managed to welcome just Anthony Elanga by the time their pre-season tour arrived and were also handed the news that Alexander Isak wanted out for the first time. The Swede's supposed injury quickly turned into a transfer saga and one that he eventually emerged victorious.
Newcastle, meanwhile, were left to turn towards the likes of Hugo Ekitike and Benjamin Sesko only to be faced with more bad news. Handed rejection after rejection, their plan to have any deals done by pre-season quickly turned into a deadline day panic as Isak left for Liverpool and Yoane Wissa finally arrived to join Nick Woltemade in the Magpies' fresh frontline.
It just about summed things up that Wissa's move very nearly collapsed in the dying embers thanks to an admin error, but Newcastle just about managed to avoid a humiliating scenario.
It's also now emerged that it wasn't just Ekitike that Newcastle and Liverpool were fighting over during a frantic summer rivalry away from the pitch.
Newcastle outbid Liverpool for Leoni
As revealed by Parma CEO Federico Cherubini, relayed by Sport Witness, Newcastle actually outbid Liverpool for Giovanni Leoni before he chose to move to Anfield.
The Magpies' offer was more "advantageous" than Liverpool's, but the Italian only wanted the Merseyside club in a verdict that Newcastle fell victim to all summer long.
“I’ve always said we wanted to keep him, and he’s always said he’d be happy to stay here. We even turned down an offer from Newcastle, which was more advantageous than the one Liverpool eventually made.
“When the Reds came forward, our plans changed: both because the offer was very attractive and because the player made it clear he was very happy to take advantage of this opportunity."
In the end, Malick Thiaw solved Newcastle's need for a defender, but there's no doubt that Leoni would have been an impressive signing. The towering 6'4 defender was described as "complete" by scout Jacek Kulig and is now seen by many as the future of Liverpool's backline following his summer move.