Alandji Bamba is now officially a Newcastle United player.
After agreeing a deal with Monaco, the defensive midfielder flew into Tyneside on Thursday for his medical.
Friday (24 July 2026) morning seeing the club with a statement that starts: ‘Newcastle United are delighted to announce the signing of young French midfielder Aladji Bamba from Monaco for an undisclosed fee. The 20-year-old, who is capped by France at Under-20s level and is a current European Golden Boy nominee, has penned a five-year deal at St. James’ Park.’
The usual ‘undisclosed fee’ but Sky Sports have reported it as a £35.5m deal, with an initial £30m transfer fee, then a potential £5.5m in future add-ons.
The official club release going on to say: ‘Aladji becomes the club’s fourth senior signing this summer following the recent additions of Ewen Jaouen, Bazoumana Touré and Sean Steur. He will wear shirt number eight.’
When the club released the official Newcastle United squad numbers on Thursday, it was notable that numbers six and eight were yet to be allocated.
Aladji Bamba commenting: “I’m very happy to be here – it’s a new challenge and I can’t wait to get started. I was very excited when I heard Newcastle were interested in signing me. I know about the history of the club and I’ve visited the stadium already, which is amazing. I can’t wait to be on the pitch there and hope to have some great times with the fans. I’m excited to test myself in a new league, the biggest league in the world. I learned a lot last season and now I feel ready for this new opportunity. I will give my all for this club.”
After turning 19 in July 2025, Aladji Bamba made his senior debut for Monaco. He went on to make 23 appearances across the 2025/26 season in Ligue 1 and the Champions League.
BBC Sport reported on Thursday that: ‘Among Ligue 1 midfielders who played at least 500 minutes last season, Bamba ranked in the top five for duels won (9.1 per game on average), tackles (3.6), successful take-ons (1.6) and aerial duels won (1.9).’