Newcastle United will have to pay more than £30million to sign Miguel Almiron from Atlanta United, according to the Mirror.
The newspaper claims that Arsenal and West Ham are also interested in signing the 24-year-old Paraguay international, who helped Atlanta win their first MLS title at the weekend.
It is understood that Rafa Benitez has made Almiron his number one target for January, with the attacking midfielder being likened to Real Madrid star Gareth Bale.
Good move for Newcastle?
Almiron has been superb for Atlanta in 2018, scoring 13 goals and supplying 13 assists on his side’s way to winning the MLS Cup against Portland Timbers last week.
The Paraguayan could fill a creative void in the Magpies attack and also help take some of the goalscoring burden off the likes of Salomon Rondon, who has struggled to score regularly this season.
Almiron would be a stellar addition to Benitez’s squad – if he can continue his fine form in the Premier League, that is.
The gulf between England’s top-flight and MLS is huge and it could be hard for him to adjust.
This is Futbol rating 9/10
Likely to happen?
Reports from across the Atlantic seemed to suggest that this deal was close but if it is going to cost Newcastle over £30million, then the chances of this happening have taken a massive hit.
Newcastle’s club record transfer is still the £17million purchase of Michael Owen over 13 years ago.
They will be almost doubling that by signing Almiron for his asking price, so Benitez has a lot of negotiating to do to bring that down.
This is Futbol rating 4/10