Fresh reports have surfaced in The Chronicle linking Newcastle with Argentina international Nicolas Tagliafico – the Ajax left-back we were offered the chance to sign for £8m over the summer.
We were first linked with him back in the summer after reportedly tracking the player for over 12 months; we all know Benitez is keen to add a more dynamic left back to provide completion to Paul Dummett.
Their latest report claim that Arsenal have also joined the race which, if true, would surely dent our hopes of landing the player. The Gunners are on a fine run of form under new manager Unai Emery and can provide European football rather than a relegation battle.
As always with Newcastle, we are paying the price for being too slow in the market as we could have signed him for £4m last summer, but stalled as Ashley halted any net spend.
He would be a fantastic addition but we have learned under Ashley that any sort of fee might be an issue – so let’s not hold our breath!