According to an ‘exclusive’ from the Chronicle, Newcastle are scouting Sevilla’s Rony Lopes ahead of a potential January move.
The Portuguese attacker was tentatively linked with a move to Tyneside over the final week of the summer transfer window, however he’s since completed a £22.5m move to Sevilla just last month.
With this in mind, it seems highly unlikely that the La Liga side are going to sell in January, with him having just signed a 5-year-deal in Spain.
The only way they may cash in is if they receive a huge offer that allows them to make a quick profit, but is Mike Ashley really going to spend big on another winger when he’s signed Saint-Maximin and Almiron for well over £30m combined?
Not only that, it was reported not so long ago by the Chronicle that Bruce had around £20m left over to spend in January – and that’s clearly not going to get you Lopes.
Back to their ‘exclusive’, they claim a winger is one of Bruce’s top priorities ahead of the January window.
This makes sense given we now seem to play two wingers ever week, yet only have three natural options out wide in Miguel Almiron, Christian Atsu and Allan Saint-Maximin.
Not only that, the latter has struggled with injuries since arriving and the former (Almiron) could do with some help to take the pressure off his shoulders.
As for Atsu, he’s been brilliant so far this season, bagging two assists already and looking as lively as any NUFC player in attack, but we can’t be left relying on a player who’s scored just 3 Premier League goals in his career.
I see Championship talents Jarrod Bowen or Said Benrahma being more realistic January targets for the club, but Hull and Brentford are still likely to demand fees in the region of £20m for their star men.
How about getting a goalscoring striker?
And I seriously doubt any player is top of Bruce’s list because I firmly believe the scouting team choose the players based on the potential profit they can make from selling on the player as opposed to what they will add to the team.
mactoon(Quote)
Players don’t only sign long term contracts because they are going to play for the team for years.
They also sign long term contracts to get more cash when they sell them in January
Brrrian(Quote)
@Brrrian
The only reason Ashley gives the players long contracts is to get a higher price when selling them on. Unfortunately this usually leaves us with a lot of surplus players on very high wages which other clubs wont pay.
mactoon(Quote)