With Newcastle United now on the hunt for a new manager after Rafa Benitez’s departure, their transfer business is likely on the back burner.
Whoever does replace Benitez, though, will almost certainly be on the hunt for a new striker this summer.
Salomon Rondon has returned to West Brom after his loan spell, and Ayoze Perez looks like making a move elsewhere. That leaves just Dwight Gayle in a forward line that was short of goals, to begin with.
With funds likely to be limited, as they always are for Newcastle under Mike Ashley, the Magpies will need to look around Europe for any potential bargains. That, according to O Jogo, has led them to look at Sporting striker Bas Dost.
The 30-year-old scored 23 goals in 35 games for the Liga Nos side last season but they want to move him on this summer.
That, according to O Jogo, is because he’s currently on a €3m a year deal until 2021, something that the club’s president considers ‘an embarrassment’ as he tries to implement a new wage structure at the club.
Getting Bas Dost out is a necessity, and they would be willing to take €12m, the fee they paid to sign him from Wolfsburg in 2016, to make it happen. There is apparently interest from all around Europe, although Newcastle and Sevilla are explicitly named. The latter has already seen an €8m bid rejected.
While the price tag is not an issue, Bas Dost himself may be. He is reportedly happy in Portugal and doesn’t want to move.
Not only does he like the country, but he also likes Sporting as a club and also feels ‘cherished’ by the fanbase.
The newspaper says that he would only consider a departure were it for an ‘elite’ side, which presumably puts Newcastle out of the reckoning at this stage.
