NEWCASTLE UNITED look to have missed out on another midfield target, with Southampton midfielder Mario Lemina on the verge of agreeing a move to French club Nice.

Magpies officials have held a number of discussions with senior officials at Southampton, and had hoped to push through a deal for Lemina over the weekend.

At one stage, it had looked as though Southampton were set to agree a deal for an initial £4m that would have seen the 27-year-old head to St James’ Park.

However, Nice made an approach of their own and Lemina is understood to have opted for a move to Ligue 1 rather than a switch to St James’ Park.

The Gabon international and his representatives are understood to have travelled to the south of France yesterday evening, with Newcastle seemingly unable to prevent him slipping through the net.

Lemina joined Southampton for a club-record £15.4m fee in August 2017, but while he was initially a success on the south coast, his time at St Mary’s has not gone as planned.

Having tumbled down Ralph Hasenhuttl’s pecking order, the 27-year-old spent last season on loan at Fulham, making 28 Premier League appearances for Scott Parker’s side. Had Fulham remained in the top-flight, they would have triggered a clause to sign Lemina permanently, however their relegation to the Championship meant the deal was no longer viable.

Lemina returned to Southampton to begin pre-season training, and while Newcastle’s recruitment team were initially confident of striking a deal, their attempts look to have been in vain.

As a result, Newcastle are still to make their first signing of the summer, even though Bruce admitted his side was worryingly short of midfield options in the wake of last weekend’s defeat at York City.

Given the shortage of numbers in midfield, and the likelihood of Matty Longstaff leaving on loan before the end of the transfer window, Bruce was quick to rule out the possibility of Isaac Hayden leaving when it was raised earlier this month. At one stage, Southampton were interested in including Hayden in a deal for Lemina.

Newcastle return to action this evening when they take on League One side Doncaster Rovers at the Keepmoat Stadium. With goalkeeping trio Karl Darlow, Freddie Woodman and Mark Gillespie still unavailable because of Covid rules, youngster Dan Langley is set to continue between the sticks.