“He’s a very decent player” – Ex-Mag names relegated star Newcastle would ‘do well’ to sign

Silly season is underway and Newcastle United have already been linked with over 30 players – of which well over half look unrealistic if Bruce really does have a tiny budget available.

This immediately brings me to Matheus Pereira, who might just be a good shout according to former Mag Steve Howey.

Here’s what he’s had to sat in his latest transfer message to Mike Ashley after naming Pereira as the man we should be targeting following West Brom’s relegation:

“I think Newcastle would do well signing him because I think he’s a very decent player.

“You look at the teams that get relegated and they always seem to lose their best players.

“It is surprising that West Brom went down because they have got some good individual players and some of them could certainly stay in the Premier League with other clubs.”

There is no doubt at all that Pereira will leave West Brom. He’s simply too good for the Championship. Transfermarkt value him at £11.7m which means the starting bids will be close to £15m. He’s possibly one of West Brom’s highest earners and they’ll want him off the books as they will need to rebuild.

For me he’s very good player – and shows it when he got the numbers he got this season in an awful WBA side. Eleven goals and six assists in 33 games was a good return and he has a very attacking mindset with lots of ability and is proven at Premiership level. He’s only 25 as well.

Remember that Calum Wilson proved last summer that you can still be a quality player if you get relegated. There’s no shame in shopping in that market if they are good enough – and Pereira is IMHO. If we can’t get Willock and I don’t think we can then I’d definitely go for him as a realistic target.

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