It has been revealed that Newcastle made an attempt to sign former Real Madrid midfielder Lassana Diarra within the last year.
Spanis newspaper MARCA (reported by Sport Witness) say that the club looked into signing Diarra in recent months, but a move was blocked by Lokomotiv Moscow. Diarra had a falling out with the Russian club and ended up being sacked due to his behaviour.
Lokomotiv refused to release the Frenchman, who was on a hefty wage at the time. This incident dragged out over an extended period of time, thus putting off any potential suitors for the player. It wasn’t only Newcastle who attempted to sign the player – QPR and West Ham made contact with his entourage too.
Diarra had already played in the Premier League with Chelsea, Arsenal and Portsmouth and he wasn’t against a return to England’s top flight. He ended up signing for Olympique Marseille and has enjoyed a decent start with his new team, netting his first goal just a few weeks ago.
Diarra earned a recall to the French national team recently, so Newcastle must be kicking themselves at failing to secure his services.
The solid central midfielder would have been a welcome addition to the McClaren’s squad – especially if he had arrived on a free.
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