Newcastle have announced the signing of Valentino Lazaro, with the Austrian international completing a move from Inter Milan in the last few moments.
Lazaro arrives on a loan deal until the end of the season, but the club will have an option to buy the 23-ear-old on a permanent deal this summer for a reported fee of £20m.
The club have also confirmed he’ll wear the no.23 shirt and will be in the squad to face Oxford in tomorrow’s FA Cup clash.
Speaking to NUFC.co.uk, here’s what the versatile wide man has had to say since putting pen to paper at St James’ Park today:
“I’m very happy to be here and can’t wait to meet all my team mates, get out on the training pitch and hopefully get a lot of victories in the future,”
“I’ve only heard great things about the club.
“I’ve had good talks with the coach so I feel very happy to be here now.
“Those conversations convinced me that this is the right place for me to come.”
Steve Bruce also said this to the club’s official website in reaction to Lazaro’s arrival:
“Valentino is a quality player who’ll add to us in attacking areas of the field, where we need to improve.
“He can play in a few positions but he is a natural winger with an excellent delivery.
“We have worked hard to get him ahead of other clubs, so I’m delighted with what we’ve done. Along with Nabil Bentaleb, he’ll give us strong options.”
Lazaro – a versatile player who can operate as a right winger or wing-back – completed a £20m move to Inter Milan just last summer, but failed to nail down a place in Antonio Conte’s side – appearing 11 times this season since making a big money move from Germany.
His form in the Bundesliga was eye-catching, however, with him bagging 6 goals and 14 assists across two seasons with Hertha Berlin.
The former Red Bull Salzburg star has also been capped 28 times by Austria and looks set to represent them at this year’s Euro 2020.
Welcome to the club, Valentino!
