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Manchester United and Newcastle have fallen further back in the race for Boubacar Kamara after a fresh report revealed why Roma are the leading candidates to sign him.

Kamara is a midfield target for both Man Utd and Newcastle ahead of the January transfer window. The Marseille man is out of contract at the end of the season and could negotiate his next move imminently.

Newcastle have been long-term admirers without managing to strike a deal. Their new wealth may give them more optimism, though.

Man Utd, however, have been trying to disrupt their plans after identifying Kamara as an ideal target of their own.

But a report on Tuesday revealed Roma are now in a strong position to take Kamara. Ex-Red Devils boss Jose Mourinho wants to strengthen his midfield and the 22-year-old could be the solution he needs.

At the time, it was claimed Roma’s good relationship with Marseille may make them favourites. Indeed, the Italian side already lent Pau Lopez and ex-Leicester loanee Cengiz Under to their French counterparts in the summer.

Now, Calciomercato speculate that it could come back to help them. In addition to the on-loan duo, Marseille have shown an interest in Roma midfielder Amadou Diawara as well.

The new report claims that by offering a discount on the obligatory permanent transfers for Lopez and Under, or giving Diawara in the other direction, Roma could get the best deal for Kamara.

As things stand, Marseille want between €18m and €20m for the Frenchman. That is too high for Roma at present, hence their work to reduce the valuations.

Calciomercato do not give any indication as to whether there is still room for Man Utd or Newcastle to hijack any deal.

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Roma pursuit of Boubacar Kamara affected by Arsenal transfer

However, what they do add is that Kamara has become Roma’s top target for midfield as a knock-on effect of their pursuit of Arsenal’s Ainsley Maitland-Niles.

It was recently revealed that Roma were in talks for Maitland-Niles. Now, a deal for January is believed to be close. The versatile midfielder or full-back looks likely to leave Arsenal on loan for the Italian side.

In doing so, Roma will use up their allocation of non-EU additions to their squad after also taking another Englishman, Tammy Abraham, in the summer.

That would rule out a deal for someone like Ruben Loftus-Cheek of Chelsea, or Harry Winks of Tottenham, both of whom have been linked with the Serie A club.

Therefore, France under-21 international Kamara has become their primary midfield target. Furthermore, he has also overtaken Hoffenheim’s Austrian midfielder Florian Grillitsch.

Grillitsch, another player out of contract in 2022, is still an option for them. But he was also previously linked with Newcastle and Tottenham Hotspur.

He may be cheaper than Kamara, but Roma are still focusing on the latter for now. It is not yet clear if Grillitsch is still on Newcastle’s radar.

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