Boubakary Soumare 'being punished' for refusing to join Newcastle | OneFootball

Lille midfielder Boubakary Soumaré is reportedly being punished for not agreeing to join Newcastle in January.

Soumaré enjoyed a standout six months for Les Dogues and was subject to interest from Manchester United and Chelsea, before the Magpies eventually bid €35m late on.

However, the 20-year-old opted against joining Newcastle and has yet to play a single minute since January 26, with Lille manager Christophe Galtier citing ‘tensions’ between the club and player.

“There is a situation at the club that I will not be commenting on,” Galtier told reporters. “In seasons, you can have tension between a player and his club.

“We will deal with that internally and we will find a solution. In these conditions, I took the decision to work with two other options (Onana and Cheikh Niasse).”

According to Canal Plus, Lille are in financial difficulty and needed to sell players in order to comply with Financial Fair Play, so losing out on €35m frustrated senior officials.

It remains to be seen whether this decision will affect the midfielder long-term.