Newcastle United will have to decide which transfer route they’re prepared to go down, within the next week.
That is according to Keith Downie of Sky Sports, who was speaking to This is Futbol about the club’s potential transfer business, heading into the final two weeks of the transfer window.
According to The Shields Gazette, Newcastle have had an initial £20m bid for Watford striker João Pedro rejected, with the Championship club valuing the 20-year-old at £35m.
Meanwhile Benfica striker Gonçalo Ramos is reportedly of interest to the Magpies, but the club also face competition from both Wolverhampton Wanderers and Southampton for the Portuguese forward’s signature this summer.
And Downie believes that both Ramos and Pedro would be the ideal type of striker that Howe is looking for, and that he expects the club to bring someone in before the window shuts.
“I think a Ramos or a Pedro, or a player of that ilk would fit into the mould of what Eddie Howe is looking at, at the moment.
I think they’ll need to make a decision in the next week or so as to what route they’re going to go down, because I definitely do expect them to bring someone in.”
TIF Thoughts on Downie’s comments
With just two weeks remaining of the transfer window, we agree with Downie and believe that Newcastle need to have a strategy in mind, otherwise they will risk missing out on both targets altogether.
The club clearly have visions of a tall and physical centre-forward playing that striker role for Eddie Howe’s side this season and we believe that a figure in the range of around £35m is what it would take for one of Pedro and Ramos to move to St. James’ Park this season.
We believe that PIF will have to put their money where their mouth is, and cough up the funds for Howe to have a first-class striker in his team, if they are to push themselves into the top-half of the league this season.