Newcastle United and Aston Villa both had scouts in attendance to watch Galatasaray forward Baris Alper Yilmaz on Friday night, according to reports.
Villa are Europe’s highest spenders in the summer transfer window, splashing just under £150million on eight new players.
Only 15 clubs in Europe have spent more than Newcastle, who have bought Lewis Hall, Odysseas Vlachodimos and William Osula for around £60m as well as Lloyd Kelly and John Ruddy on free transfers.
Both clubs are expected to make more signings before the window closes with the Magpies’ top target believed to be Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi.
Unai Emery’s side, meanwhile, have been linked with Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix and Chelsea’s Trevoh Chalobah, who has been ‘barred’ from using the Blues’ first-team facilities at their Cobham training base.
It now appears that Newcastle and the Villans are targeting Turkish international Yilmaz.
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Yilmaz appeared for Galatasaray in their Super Lig opening day victory over Hatayspor, playing the full match on the left wing.
The 24-year-old has played 110 times for the Turkish giants, scoring 11 goals and providing 14 assists.
He represented Turkey at Euro 2024, playing every minute for his country as they reached the quarter-final, losing to the Netherlands.
Yilmaz did not provide a goal contribution but still displayed his danger playing through the middle, attracting interest from a host of Premier League clubs.
Arsenal have also been linked with the Turkish forward but it is Newcastle and Aston Villa who were in attendance to watch him on Friday night.
Newcastle, Aston Villa send scouts to watch Galatasaray forward
This is according to reports in Turkey, where it is claimed that both Premier League sides have ‘closely followed’ Yilmaz in recent months.
Reports claim that Newcastle and Aston Villa ‘sent their scouts to Istanbul to take a closer look’ at the player as they bid to ‘evaluate his potential’.
It is not made clear if either club will make a bid to sign Yilmaz this summer, though they are clearly interested.
Yilmaz is reportedly available for around 35 million euros (£30m).
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