Newcastle United are mooted to be interested in a move for Benfica and Portugal U21 striker Gonçalo Ramos this summer.
That is according to Sky Sports reporter Keith Downie, who was speaking to GiveMeSport about the Magpies’ potential transfer business heading to the final weeks of the Premier League transfer window.
It has been reported over the past weeks that Newcastle are looking at a potential swoop for Ramos, with Benfica admitting that a bid of over £35m would be tough to turn down.
Southampton are also interested in making a move for the 21-year-old this summer according to The Athletic, with the south coast club holding talks with the Portuguese giants over a possible £25m move.
Downie believes that Ramos is just one of a number of names on Newcaslte’s shortlist this summer as Eddie Howe looks to bring another striker to St James’ Park.
He said: “The word that we were getting last week was that Ramos was another one that they’d looked at on the list, kind of similar to the lad Benjamin Šeško, who’s going to RB Leipzig, who Manchester United looked at as well.
“I think there’s such a small pool of players available at the moment and multiple clubs are looking at them, that clubs are very sort of unsure.
“They don’t want any information getting out there because you don’t want to alert other clubs that are down the line with someone.”
TIF Thoughts on Downie’s comments…
We believe that judging by Ramos’ start to the season, Newcastle fans would be delighted if they could get the 18-time Portugal U21 international through the door. Interestingly, he has even been tipped to replace Robert Lewandowski at Bayern Munich.
The Benfica starlet, who has been described as being ‘incredibly prolific’ by football scout Jacek Kulig, has scored five goals and provided three assists in just five appearances for the club this season according to Transfermarkt, suggesting he’ll have no issue finding the back of the net if he can transfer that form to the Premier League.
Therefore, we think that following an exceptional start to the season, PIF should be making a move for Ramos as quickly as possible before a host of other suitors enter the race for the striker this summer.