With Palmeiras doing superb work at their academy in recent years, it’s getting more and more common to see their youngster linked with, or indeed moving to, European clubs.
So today, we get to see that Newcastle United are one of sides interested in signing 18-year-old winger Giovani.
The information is reported by ESPN Brasil, who claim the race for the youngster should resume now that the player has recovered from an ankle injury.
The outlet claims that Ajax were the first European side to follow him, having a €12m bid rejected. Now as the Dutch side continue with their pursuit, they get competition from Bayer Leverkusen and Newcastle.
Those clubs were said to be waiting for the Giovani’s recovery to ‘resume the monitoring’, and it’s ‘possible’ that Palmeiras will get a new offer for him in the ‘near future’.
ESPN points out Giovani is treated as ‘one of the biggest jewels at the club’, and that’s why he’s protected by a €60m release clause.
In May, we covered reports from Brazil which stated the City Football Group were willing to spend €10m on the youngster. At the time it was said Palmeiras responded by demanding €20m plus €5m in performance related bonuses.
Since the club just sold Gabriel Veron to Porto in a €10.5m deal, it’s likely they’ll work harder to keep Giovani for now.
