Barış Alper Yılmaz has been on Newcastle United’s radar for a while, and it’s claimed the Magpies are stepping up their efforts amid interest from rival Premier League clubs.
Turkish winger Barış Alper Yılmaz had an outstanding season for Galatasaray last year, racking up 14 goals and six assists in 48 outings, which caught the attention of Newcastle, who were linked with a move for the 25-year-old as far back as December 2024.
Newcastle ultimately went in a different direction, but with the Turkish star heading to England to face Liverpool tonight, a new report claims that the Magpies will send representatives to watch him at Anfield.
However, Newcastle won’t be the only club with scouts in attendance, it seems, with two other Premier League sides tracking the versatile forward.
Turkish outlet Takvim are making some big claims regarding growing Premier League interest in Galatasaray’s Barış Alper Yılmaz.
They report that Newcastle, Brighton and Crystal Palace have already reached out to Yilmaz’s agent, while Sport Witness adds that Chelsea were keen to make a £43 million bid in the summer, which gives us a potential idea on his price tag.
Yilmaz has already outperformed last season’s stats with 10 goals and 14 assists in 40 games in all competitions over the 2025/26 campaign.
We’ll see how Yilmaz gets on at Anfield on Wednesday, but as far as transfer priorities go, we’re not sure he’d be up there this summer.
Newcastle have a pretty decent stable of wingers with Anthony Gordona and Harvey Barnes fighting over the left wing, with Anthony Elanga and Jacob Murphy on the right.
It has taken Elanga a while to get going, and arguably still has a way to go before he starts to pay of that £55 million fee, but we doubt Eddie Howe is going to throw in the towel with him after just one season.
Anthony Gordon does seem to be trying to move more into the centre-forward role, but there is strong talk that Newcastle will be in the market for another striker this summer which would likely see Gordon pushed back out wide, giving Yilmaz even more competition.
He looks like a good player, there’s no doubt about that, but right now, it just doesn’t make sense.
