Newcastle have been in talks for weeks over a summer move for Brazilian striker Joelinton, according to a reliable journalist.
Florian Plettenberg, chief reporter for Sport1, made the claim on his personal Twitter page on Saturday morning.
The tweet reads, “Hoffenheim Joelinton is facing a summer change to Newcastle! Cost: around €60 million. Record for Hoffenheim. Negotiations for weeks. End shortly.”
Joelinton plays for Hoffenheim where the 22-year-old has scored six goals and provided six assists in 21 Bundesliga games. He’s under contract with the German club until 2022.
The full report claims that Joelinton will make the switch next season, although it says this will hinge on staying in the Premier League, and that the negotiations should be completed “early next week”.
?EXKLUSIV: Wechsel-Hammer! Nach @SPORT1-Infos steht Hoffenheims #Joelinton vor einem Sommer-Wechsel zu #Newcastle! Kosten: Rund 60 Mio €. Rekord f. @tsghoffenheim. Verhandlungen seit Wochen, jetzt kurz v. Abschluss. Bildquelle: @Transfermarkt. #magpies Gleich mehr dazu bei uns. pic.twitter.com/oDSq7Nhvwc
— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) February 23, 2019
OPINION
Newcastle fans have been here many times before and they’ll be extremely cynical about a deal for this sort of money. However, the journalist seems adamant that talks have been taking place and the report was picked up by the Chronicle today, who said “Wow – this really would be something.” We’ll believe it when we see it but the fee might be way out. The 22-year-old signed for a little less than £2million in 2015 and if it was nearer the £20-£25million mark we might be more open to it happening. Newcastle do need a marquee signing though and Mike Ashley has shown himself to be open to spending after the club-record deal for Miguel Almiron in January. Stranger things have happened in football, but rarely at St James’ Park under Mike Ashley. The Chronicle went on to say: “Mike Ashley has only just broken the club’s longstanding transfer record to sign Miguel Almiron and £21m in today’s market is quite reasonable. For that to surge to £52m in such a short space of time for Joelington would be a remarkable statement from Newcastle United’s owner at a time when the club is still, technically, up for sale.”