Real Madrid willing to offer player-plus-cash deal to land Moussa Sissoko

Real Madrid are willing to offer a player-plus-cash deal to push through a move for Newcastle United midfielder Moussa Sissoko, who is keen to leave the Magpies after they were relegated to the Championship at the end of the 2015/16 campaign. Zinedine Zidane is keen to land the midfielder, and is willing to offer two players on loan to bring down the club's £35m ($46.6m) valuation of the player.

The Guardian understands that the St James' Park outfit are resigned to losing the midfielder and are expecting a formal bid from the Spanish capital club in the coming days. Newcastle have already made contingency plans with Hull City midfielder Mohamed Diame believed to be close to signing for the Championship club after they activated his release clause.

According to the Daily Mail, Manchester United, Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain have also shown interest in signing the midfielder, but Real are keen to take the midfielder to Santiago Bernabeu this summer. Zidane is willing to part with Mariano Diaz and Marcos Llorente to bring his asking price below £35m.

Diaz is a striker and is highly-rated by the Spanish club after he scored 27 goals in 32 appearances for the Real B side last season. The 23-year-old Dominican Republic international played and scored for Real in their pre-season friendly against Chelsea on Friday (29 July), but the French manager is keen for him to go on-loan and gain regular first-team experience.

Llorente, meanwhile, is a midfielder and former Spain youth international, who made two appearances in the La Liga last season. The 21-year-old's route to the first-team is blocked with a number of players ahead of him in the pecking order and Zidane is willing to let him experience a year in the English Championship under former Real manager Rafael Benitez.

The Magpies have been reluctant to let Sissoko leave the club, especially after losing last season's top scorer Georginio Wijnaldum to Liverpool. However, the midfielder is keen to leave St James' Park and Newcastle are now hoping the transfer does not drag on, as they are keen to fill the void left by the duo before the start of the season.