On July 19th, we carried a report from Portuguese newspaper Record, who reported FC Porto are close to reaching an agreement with Newcastle United for Chancel Mbemba.
Belgian publication Het Laatste Nieuws now claims the Portuguese outfit and the Tyneside club have agreed for the transfer of the Congolese international over the weekend.
Prior to Porto’s interest in the defender, the 23-year-old was linked with the clubs in Belgium. Mbemba’s former club Anderlecht, along with Club Brugge and Standard Liege, were interested in securing the player’s signature.
Despite interest from the Primeira Liga club, Marc Coucke’s side table a bid for the Magpies defender in the past few days.
Anderlecht were willing to offer Newcastle €6m plus a “considerable percentage” on the transfer fee collected from Mbemba’s future sale. However, Porto were successful in beating Anderlecht to signing the player, who is set to sign a four-year deal with them.
Newcastle will be delighted to offload a player who has no future at St James’ Park.
