Newcastle United are being linked with endless players since Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund completed a takeover of the Premier League club.
Given it’s currently an international break, and therefore a traditionally quiet time for much of the football media, the opportunity has been grasped by many, mainly in Italy, to link multiple players with the Magpies.
Some of the claims have been more realistic than others, and we’ll start with one of the stories which became an obvious candidate as soon as it was clear the takeover would be happening.
Monday evening through to Tuesday morning saw multiple claims around Aaron Ramsey. Newcastle were said to be on pole for the Welshman, in a January move it’s thought Juventus would happily grasp. You can read more about that here.
There were further claims of the club offering Ramsey a three year contract, but it wasn’t made clear whether those three years would be from last summer or next. European football regulations mean it would have to be one or the other.
Ramsey is a realistic target. Juve want rid, he’s hinted he wants out, and his Wales place wouldn’t be under threat if he moved to the bottom half of the league.
Italian newspaper Tuttosport got truly carried away with their Newcastle stories, and had the club plastered across the front of their Tuesday edition.
Tuttosport are more used to covering the bianconeri of local club Juventus, but today it was a club of the same colours from far away.
There were five players on the cover, along with an image of Mohammad Bin Salman, with a headline saying ‘Buy them all’. How exciting… if you edge reality to one side.
Matthijs De Ligt, Marcelo Brozovic, Franck Kessie, Stefan de Vrij and Federico Chiesa were the stars of the show, and those transfers seem pretty unrealistic for Newcastle right now.
De Ligt probably doesn’t want to give up on his Juve career just yet, and just like Chiesa, it’s unlikely he’d move to a club without Champions League football. Both will have the World Cup on their mind, and the same can be said for Brozovic and De Vrij at Inter Milan. Joining a team fighting relegation could be a threat to their national team standing.
Kessie’s contract expires at the end of this season, and should he leave AC Milan then it’s thought he’ll have the chance to join a top level club, with PSG and Manchester United among those linked. Given he’d have free agent status, he’d get big wages wherever he goes, so he would also be difficult for Newcastle.
Il Mattino, a newspaper local to Naples, dragged the Magpies into the Lorenzo Insigne saga. With the player’s contract expiring at the end of the season, he’s been in a battle with Napoli over a renewal.
Napoli is always surrounded by drama, and whilst anything can happen when the situation is like that, Insigne is from the area, club captain, and it’s always felt like a stay would be worked out.
That said, Il Mattino suggested MLS could tempt the 30-year-old, and if he could be tempted by the US then maybe, just maybe, Newcastle would have a chance. Despite all of that, staying in Italy, and likely at Napoli, still feels the likeliest scenario.
Over to Spain we go. First off, ‘Magpies’ in Spanish is ‘Urracas’, you’re welcome.
Tuesday’s edition of Sport, which is a Catalan newspaper, presented some Newcastle-shaped hope for Barcelona. The club have been trying to offload Philippe Coutinho continually, and the new found wealth in the North East gives them another destination to push.
Convincing Barcelona would not be difficult, it’s the player who would need to be worked on. Resurrecting his flagging career and becoming a Geordie hero may hold some temptation.
He hasn’t played for Brazil since October 2020, so there’s not a lot left to be lost in that regard. And, if Raphinha shining for Leeds United can catch the attention of Tite, Brazil’s manager, then Coutinho making St James’ Park his playground could do similar.
Sport later reported that Newcastle have asked about signing Clement Lenglet, and this one also doesn’t seem so wild.
According to the story, contact of some sort has been made, and there’s belief at NUFC that any incoming manager wouldn’t be displeased with the 26-year-old defender.
He has a contract with Barcelona which lasts until June 2026, so if he wants to stay he has that on his side. Going against a Barca future is that he’s had just 95 minutes of action this season.
Staying in Spain but moving to Madrid, the Real variety, Cadena Ser covered claims from England of Newcastle potentially offering €10m for Mariano Diaz. There’s belief that if that happened, the striker would be gift-wrapped and sent to England.
Now on our mini European tour, we can hop over to France.
Following claims of Newcastle being interested in appointing Antero Henrique, formerly of PSG, as a Director of Football, Le10 Sport stated there’d been no concrete contact, but interest is alive.
It’s worth noting that any time a potential role like this pops up, Henrique is linked to it, probably through design rather than coincidence.
Finally, there came something of a shock from RMC, who said Newcastle have contacted Leicester City are told them to be ready for an offer for Wesley Fofana, when the defender returns to fitness.
Given this is being leaked in France, then it’s near certain it’s come from someone close to the player. That’ll either be because it’s true, or that the defender fancies a better Leicester City contract than the one he signed when moving from Saint-Etienne in 2020.
And, if you were a footballer who wanted a pay rise, then you’d be using Newcastle United “interest” to help, wouldn’t you?!
If tomorrow is as rumour packed as today then we’ll return with another round-up in the mould of this one.
