Back at the weekend, we saw reports from the English media linking Newcastle United to a couple of Porto players.
It was claimed the Magpies sent scouts to the Estádio do Dragão, where the Dragons beat Sporting 3-0, and ended up interested in Brazilian starlets Pepê and Evanilson.
It turns out Portuguese newspaper Jornal de Notícias now features a story on this chase.
Even though they don’t know a lot about Newcastle’s pursuit for those players, they do bring Porto’s stance on the chances of selling the duo in the final weeks of the transfer window.
The outlet starts by saying that the Dragons ‘don’t have any intention’ to let go of either Pepê or Evanilson, especially because they’re regular starters at Sérgio Conceição’s side.
Jornal de Notícias points out that Porto reportedly turned down a €35m offer from Newcastle back for Pepê in June, and claims that to let him go, they demand the price for his release clause, which stands at €70m
They also label Evanlison’s move as ‘very unlikely’, as he has the biggest release clause in the Dragons’ squad, which is of €100m.
The outlet claims something could still happen, especially because of Newcastle’s urge to sign a right-winger until the end of the window.
But if that depends on Porto, then they’ll make the Magpies’ task a very difficult one.
