Newcastle's PERFECT Elanga alternative: President confirms transfer

Tom Weber

Updated: 3 Jul 2025 13:50 CDT
5 min read

Lille president Olivier Letang has announced that he will look to sell Edon Zhegrova this summer, and the data suggests that he would be an ideal fit for Newcastle.

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The Kosovo international has been looking to leave Lille for at least a year now, but the Ligue 1 side were reluctant to do business in previous windows. There is long-standing interest from Napoli in the 26-year-old, but all of their attempts at signing him have so far failed.

Now, Zhegrova has just a year left on his contract, and Lille, having just lost Jonathan David and Angel Gomes on free transfers, accept that they need to sell. President Letang confirmed as much in his most recent press conference.

Compared

Edon Zhegrova

F, M (R)

Lille

Edon Zhegrova

F, M (R)

Lille

VS

Anthony Elanga

M (R)

Nottingham

Anthony Elanga

M (R)

Nottingham

€20.3M	ETV	€49.4M
€18.3M - €22.3M	ETV Range	€44.4M - €54.3M
26 years old (31 Mar, 1999)	Age	23 years old (27 Apr, 2002)
Kosovo	Nationality	Sweden

“Edon has expressed his wish to leave," the Lille boss said. "It doesn’t seem appropriate to me to keep him with a year left on his contract in the current economic context of French football. We’re anticipating [his exit].”

It is believed that the strongest interest in Zhegrova is still coming from Italy, with Atalanta now also said to be among his suitors. However, according to data analytics firm SciSports, Newcastle would be well-advised to make a move for him.

Zhegrova an ideal Elanga alternative

According to SciSports' Career Advice tool, Newcastle are Zhegrova's best-suited next club with a whopping score of 83 out of 100. The Magpies are followed by Leverkusen, Everton, Juventus and Napoli.

A move to St. James' Park would make an awful lot of sense considering that Newcastle are desperate to add a right-winger to Eddie Howe's side, despite the impressive performances of Jacob Murphy last season.

Newcastle have had a bid for Nottingham Forest star Anthony Elanga rejected, with the Swede now the club's top target following Bryan Mbeumo's decision to pursue a move to Man Utd.

Forest are reportedly asking for as much as €70 million, which Newcastle are reluctant to pay. Sky Sports reporter Keith Downie believes that a deal will get done, but Zhegrova would likely be a much cheaper alternative given his contract situation.

The Kosovo international currently has an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €20.3m, while Elanga, who is three years his junior and Premier League-proven, boasts an ETV of €49.4m.

Zhegrova missed the entire second half of last season through injury, so he was restricted to just 21 appearances in which he scored eight goals and provided two assists.

With Newcastle trying to keep their biggest stars and aiming to bring in several high-profile - and potentially expensive - reinforcements, a bargain move for Zhegrova could be sensible to avoid any financial concerns.

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