This morning, Newcastle United fan accounts on Twitter said, according to Portuguese newspaper O Jogo, the club would be ready to make a £39m offer for Sporting midfielder William Carvalho.
But despite the excitement and surprise from those who believed the story, there’s nothing about Newcastle in today’s edition of O Jogo.
The only article where William Carvalho is mentioned is when the newspaper claims that some players could leave for less than their release clause, which would be the midfielder’s case.
Carvalho indeed has a £39m/€45m release clause, and that’s why the Twitter story didn’t make sense in first place, because there would be no need to bid. It’s a matter of going and get him.
Newcastle had indeed been mentioned by O Jogo recently, but in a story from yesterday, which we covered. It said Carvalho could be the first to leave Sporting this summer, and the Magpies would have some competition from West Brom.
Digging a little more, we ended up finding out the £39m bid is actually reported by The Sun today. They say Newcastle would rather pay around £25m, but their will to get the midfielder would convince them to pay the entire release clause.
That’s not going to happen. Newcastle don’t need to pay £39m, they wouldn’t pay £39m, and it’s almost certain no other club will pay £39m either.
The Portuguese reports have been hyped up by the English media, and that’s led to the nonsense £39m bid claims.
