According to rumors, Newcastle United are hoping to beat AC Milan AC Milan AC Milan to Atletico Madrid midfielder Rodrigo De Paul in the summer transfer market.
When Saudi Arabia’s PIF took over the club in 2021, the Geordies became one of the richest clubs in the world, but their spending hasn’t been extravagant thus far.
Financial Fair Play laws have limited their spending, with the €42m purchase of Bruno Guimares from Lyon being the most expensive signing last season, and the €70m paid for Alexander Isak from Real Sociedad being the most expensive this term.
With Eddie Howe on the verge of leading them to Champions League qualification, they are set to splurge again in the summer transfer window.
Newcastle must win two of their next three games to assure a top-four finish and the additional cash that comes with playing in the Champions League next season.
Howe’s summer budget might be as much as £200 million if Newcastle finish in the top four, and a reportedly furious article from MilanLive states that Newcastle have ‘entered the negotiation with arrogance’ for one of Paolo Maldini’s’market priorities’.
Milan’s technical director is interested in Atletico Madrid midfielder De Paul, but the Serie A giants may have to explore a ‘change of course’ with Newcastle also interested in the Argentina international.
Milan ‘will have to be convincing’ if they are to sign De Paul over the Premier League club with the report adding that ‘the inclusion of Newcastle could ruin everything’.
It is understood that the World Cup winner ‘could seriously leave’ Atletico in the summer transfer market with the midfielder available for around €40m.
The potential hijacking of the deal to recruit De Paul is described as ‘another robbery’ by Newcastle after they beat the Italians to Sven Botman earlier this summer.
Newcastle manager Howe recently had to temper expectations after signing world superstars Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, and Lionel Messi.
“That kind of speculation has been there since day one since the takeover, really,” Howe told reporters. Naturally, everyone anticipated that the top stars in international football would travel to Newcastle.
“We no longer recruit in this manner. We probably can’t recruit that way right now due to financial constraints, but we also need to bring in the appropriate individuals and players. It is preferable to find them before they explode onto the scene.
“We could not be able to come close to affording those players as they are the best players in the world. We are never going to be in a position currently to afford those transfer fees and wages, so we need to go underneath and find them young and develop them into the players they can be.
“I will say the transfer market is such a complex decision, you can’t just pick a name and bring them in. There’s got to be a lot of thought going into what we’re doing both financially and looking at the players.
“It doesn’t frustrate me. Those two players are unbelievable players. We are linked with different names. I know what direction I want to take the team in and what we can and can’t do in the transfer market. A lot of the names will not be accurate.”
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