A couple of weeks ago, when the Portuguese media released the list of clubs who had scouts at the match between Porto and Sporting, Newcastle United were named.
That report did not include any information on who the Magpies were watching, so it just left us wondering who from the Dragons’ or Lions’ talent had been drawing attention from Eddie Howe’s side.
Newspaper Record then came up saying that besides Newcastle’s interest in Sporting’s Matheus Nunes, there were also focusing a special attention on João Palhinha, but it was still not clear if the emissaries were there to watch the duo.
Now newspaper Jornal de Notícias comes up to clear things up.
The outlet says Newcastle are one of the clubs who follow Sporting midfielder João Palhinha. It’s said the ‘new rich’, who have been sending scouts to a few matches, were indeed watching the 26-year-old at the Lions’ game against the Dragons.
Jornal de Notícias says Palhinha will ‘have this summer the chance of adventuring himself abroad and has many interested in England’.
His entourage already had approaches in January and know that in the summer there will be an ‘opening’ for his departure, with Sporting wanting to make over €30m with the transfer.
This isn’t the first time Palhinha is linked to Newcastle. Back in January, he’d already been labelled as one of the Magpies’ alternatives to Bruno Guimarães.
