Newcastle United ‘transfer is in progress’, optimism Rafael Benitez will get his man

 

Benfica and Newcastle United are still in talks for the transfer of Andreas Samaris, according to reports from the Portuguese press today.

Newspaper O Jogo claims Newcastle are offering €15m, and Benfica keep demanding €20m, something covered at the weekend. But the clubs should find an agreement soon, as long as a few bonuses are included so the total amount will get to what the Eagles want.

It’s claimed that Samaris is happy at Benfica, but due to his squad role, he wouldn’t mind changing clubs to play more regularly.

O Jogo seems pretty optimistic about the talks, saying the ‘transfer is in progress’, so from their point of view, the €5m gap between what Newcastle offer and Benfica demand is not hard to be filled.

They claim the Portuguese club’s president Luis Filipe Vieira just wants to ‘recover the investment’ made to sign the player in 2014, although Benfica only spent €10m to buy him from Olympiacos.

Optimism, if not any real progress, for Newcastle from Portugal.