Recent reports have emerged suggesting Newcastle United tried and failed to land a promising young Portuguese defender in the summer.
Portuguese outlet A Bola (via Sport Witness) recently claimed that Newcastle approached Benfica with a €35 million plus €15 million in add-ons (£41 million in total) bid for Antonio Silva in the summer but the offer was rejected.
Newcastles' priority in the summer was to land a promising young centre-back to grow into the side and succeed Fabian Schar with Marc Guehi being the club's main target.
However, it now sounds as though Newcastle did actually look elsewhere before focusing way too much time and energy on the Crystal Palace star.
Marc Guehi is potentially still top of Newcastle's wish list, depending on who you believe, but one thing's certain, and that's that the Magpies will not be repeating the mistakes they made this summer in looking at things with such a narrow field of view.
This could put 21-year-old Antonio Silva back on the club's radar.
A Bola claims that Benfica have already ruled out Silva moving in January, but says they could be open to doing business in the summer.
Newcastle's priority has changed going into the January window with attacking options more of a pressing issue, but a defender will be required soon, so a return for Silva in the summer is a likely option.
Juventus are also keeping tabs on Silva and could go toe-to-toe with Newcastle for the young centre-back.
We imagine that much of Newcastle's summer business will hinge on whether the team qualifies for Europe this season, and indeed which competition. Having Champions League football to offer will open more doors for Newcastle.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Liverpool
|
14 | 18 | 35 |
2 |
Chelsea
|
15 | 17 | 31 |
3 |
Arsenal
|
15 | 14 | 29 |
4 |
Manchester City
|
15 | 6 | 27 |
5 |
Nottingham Forest
|
15 | 1 | 25 |
6 |
Aston Villa
|
15 | 0 | 25 |
7 |
Brighton
|
15 | 3 | 24 |
8 |
Bournemouth
|
15 | 3 | 24 |
9 |
Brentford
|
15 | 3 | 23 |
10 |
Fulham
|
15 | 2 | 23 |
11 |
Tottenham Hotspur
|
15 | 12 | 20 |
12 |
Newcastle United
|
15 | -2 | 20 |
13 |
Manchester United
|
15 | 1 | 19 |
14 |
West Ham United
|
15 | -8 | 18 |
15 |
Everton
|
14 | -7 | 14 |
16 |
Leicester
|
15 | -9 | 14 |
17 |
Crystal Palace
|
15 | -6 | 13 |
18 |
Ipswich
|
15 | -13 | 9 |
19 |
Wolves
|
15 | -15 | 9 |
20 |
Southampton
|
15 | -20 | 5 |