Newcastle United and Liverpool ‘turned down’ by free agent with 98 Premier League appearances

Turkish defender Caglar Soyuncu reportedly turned down offers from Newcastle United and Liverpool in favour of joining Atletico Madrid.

Soyuncu left Leicester City at the end of last season after his contract expired. The 27-year-old suffered relegation from the Premier League with the Foxes but according to Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo, he wasn’t short of offers.

Leicester paid £18million to sign the centre-back from Bundesliga side Freiburg in 2018. Soyuncu made 132 appearances in total, including 98 in the Premier League, and was part of the squad that lifted the FA Cup two years ago.

It’s claimed Newcastle and Liverpool made offers to sign Soyuncu, however he had already given his word to Diego Simeone at Atletico Madrid.

Since moving to Spain, Soyuncu has made just two substitute appearances in La Liga after sustaining an injury during the recent international break with Turkey.

Newcastle considered signing a central defender in the summer but instead bolstered both full-back positions with the arrivals of Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall from Southampton and Chelsea, respectively.

Around £130million was spent in total with Soyuncu’s former teammate Harvey Barnes moving to St James’ Park, as did Italian midfielder Sandro Tonali from Serie A giants AC Milan.