Newcastle United were back at Porto on Wednesday night, and two players they’ve already considered signing were waiting for them.
The Magpies sent scouts to the Estádio do Dragão for Porto’s Champions League clash with Napoli. They watched Francesco Farioli’s side run out convincing 4-1 winners.
Victor Froholdt played the full 90 minutes, while Samu Aghehowa came off the bench and scored. Both have been linked with Newcastle before, so there’s already some interesting history there.
And after what happened against Everton earlier this week, another Porto player might be worth keeping an eye on.
Newcastle get another look at Froholdt and Samu
Portuguese newspaper A Bola reports that Newcastle were among 14 clubs represented at the Dragão on Wednesday.
Bayern Munich, AC Milan, Atlético Madrid, Brentford and Ipswich Town were also present.
It’s another visit for Newcastle, who watched Porto against Benfica in September and returned for their match against PSV Eindhoven last month.
Froholdt is an obvious player to consider when looking at their interest in the Portuguese club. The Danish midfielder was one of Newcastle’s preferred options to replace Bruno Guimarães during the summer.
A move never happened, though. Porto were pointing towards his €85m (£71m) release clause, while the player wasn’t particularly keen on joining the Magpies.
That was hardly an encouraging message for Newcastle… But they are still “crazy about him”.
Well, the 20-year-old remains a key player for Farioli. He completed Wednesday’s match, putting in another shift in midfield, even if Gabri Veiga grabbed most of the headlines.
Then there’s Samu Aghehowa. The Spanish striker was repeatedly linked with Newcastle before suffering a serious ACL injury that kept him out for almost eight months.
He only returned to action recently, and Wednesday offered another encouraging sign. Samu replaced André Silva in the 56th minute and made quite an impact.
He had an excellent chance to score in the second half but couldn’t beat Alex Meret. That didn’t stop him getting his goal.
In the closing minutes, Rafa Marín brought him down inside the penalty area and received a red card. Samu took the resulting spot-kick himself, completing Porto’s 4-1 victory.
Could Diogo Costa give Newcastle something to think about?
Another interesting name is Diogo Costa, and Newcastle’s recent goalkeeping situation adds a little extra spice here. The Magpies went shopping in Portugal during the summer and signed Lukáš Horníček from Braga.
The Czech goalkeeper had established himself as one of the Primeira Liga’s best performers, and Newcastle handed him a five-year contract.
He made an encouraging start in England, but Monday’s defeat to Everton brought a rather unpleasant moment. His expensive mistake may have raised a few eyebrows at St James’ Park.
Now, that doesn’t mean Newcastle are suddenly looking to replace him of course. He’s only 24, superbly talented, arrived three months ago and is still adapting to English football.
But if the club ever decide they need another goalkeeper, there’s a pretty obvious option at the top of Portuguese football. Diogo Costa is Portugal’s first-choice goalkeeper and has long been regarded as the country’s outstanding player in that position.
He was excellent against Napoli too, making five saves. Just before Scott McTominay’s equaliser, he produced two consecutive stops, only for the third attempt to finally beat him.
A couple of other names worth mentioning
There were other potential options for Newcastle’s representatives to assess. Santiago Giménez, for example, came on for Porto in the 67th minute and needed just four minutes to make an impact.
The Mexican striker set up Gabri Veiga’s goal, which put the Portuguese side back in front. He also had an effort of his own saved by Meret.
Napoli’s Antonio Vergara is another name worth mentioning. The 23-year-old attacking midfielder, a Tottenham summer target, started for the Italian side and played until the 79th minute.
Neither has been identified as a Newcastle target, but both were available for the visiting scouts to assess.
Of course the highlight is Samu’s return to scoring form, while Froholdt continues to play an important role at Porto.
