For the past couple of seasons, we’ve seen several stories claiming Newcastle United were interested in the signing of Sporting midfielder Matheus Nunes.
Just one year ago, it was even revealed that the Magpies had made an offer for the Brazilian, and that was turned down by the Lions, who knew he’d soon be worth a lot more.
Today, several newspapers bring stories about Nunes, claiming many Premier League clubs have been chasing him, and it turns out that both Record and O Jogo recall that Newcastle were the first to get involved in this race.
Record writes the Magpies ‘were an interested club’ in his signing, while O Jogo recalls their ‘a loan proposal with an option to buy of 12 million euros’ one and a half years ago.
The funny thing is that even though Newcastle got linked to Nunes in a time where they had more modest targets, before the club’s latest takeover, we can say that the player’s valuation has gone up as well, and still fits the Magpies’ plans for the upcoming summer.
With his price rising, newspaper O Jogo now says he wouldn’t leave Sporting for less than €40m. Manager Ruben Amorim is now aware of the big race for the player and that a ‘door could open next summer’ for a transfer, and mentioned it in a press conference on Sunday.
“That’s like the other players, it’s a part of Hugo Viana and the president. I know there have already been proposals, even in January, it’s part of our daily life, it’s a good sign,” said Amorim.
“Obviously, the Champions League showcase has greatly increased the greed of players. I’m going to play my role, which is to have a better team, bringing young players to join the team, that’s my role, Viana’s and the president’s role is to deal with these situations. So I have no idea of the situation of Matheus or any other player.”
