According to Turkish outlet Fotospor, Newcastle United are now willing to match Galatasaray’s £13.5m asking price for star winger Garry Rodrigues in January.
It’s always best to take Turkish reports with a pinch of salt, however there’s no smoke without fire – and Rodrigues is a player whose been mentioned as a potential target for a long time now.
The club have been consistently linked with a move for the 27-year-old for over the past three transfer windows, and it seems like our interest has not faded despite having an alleged offer rejected over the summer.
The Cape Verde international bagged an impressive 10 goals and 11 assists for the Turkish giants last season and has managed 3 goals already this season – scoring in their Champions League win over Lokomotiv Moscow last month.
There are two things about this story that I doubt, however. A) I don’t see them accepting as little at £13.5m for one of their star players mid-way through a season and B) I wouldn’t expect us to spend this much on a winger when a number 10, striker and/or left-back seem like priorities.
Either way, we do lack pace and he would almost certainly be a significant upgrade on Atsu – a player who has been abysmal whenever we’ve seen him this season.