Newcastle United do not hold an interest in the Brazilian midfielder Lucas Paqueta amid the final weeks of this summer’s transfer window.
This has been suggested by the Toon correspondent Jordan Cronin who has been speaking about the Magpies’ transfer plans on the Loaded Mag YouTube channel.
Eddie Howe’s men got off to an electric start on the weekend in the Premier League opener against the newly-promoted Nottingham Forest, however, the same cannot be said about their transfer window.
Newcastle have only seen two new faces arrive on Tyneside in Sven Botman and Nick Pope, as well as the permanent arrival of their loanee, Matt Targett.
With the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City now being linked with the 24-year-old midfielder, Cronin does not believe the Toon have shown any indication of being involved in the race:
“Look, Newcastle are aware of Lucas Paqueta. They know he’s a good player. But just in terms of the positions that Newcastle want to strengthen, does Lucas Paqueta fit in?
“And this maybe goes back to the James Maddison argument, where if he becomes available for a certain price and Newcastle like the player and they think well, yes, we’ll do a deal now. But in terms of a priority position, I was always informed that Lucas Paqueta wasn’t on the agenda yet.”
TIF Thoughts on Cronin’s comments…
With the addition of Bruno Guimaraes perhaps providing more of an attacking threat than may have initially been expected, we do not think the signing of Paqueta is essential.
Do Newcastle need Paqueta?
Yes
No
However, we would be interested to see whether this is a potential swoop which may develop late on in the summer with Lyon reportedly now open to lower bids for the midfielder.
Jonjo Shelvey has also now been ruled out for a number of months so, potentially, Dan Ashworth may be looking at options in the market to bolster Howe’s midfield.
But as it stands, we do feel as if this has been an incredibly underwhelming window so far from the Toon. There is a balance between flaunting their riches and being conservative, but we do question what their targets are for this season on the back of the current deals done.
It feels as if, on the back of a promising end to the 2021/22 season, Newcastle have not improved massively so may find themselves failing to make a push for the top seven but avoiding another relegation scrap.