'No interest': Keith Downie now shuts down claims Newcastle United are keen on Brazilian midfielder from PL rivals
Ever since Bruno Guimaraes joined Newcastle United in 2022, there has been a hope and in some cases even an expectation that he'd be joined on Tyneside by his former Lyon midfield partner and best mate Lucas Paqueta.
The two were often seen together in England when Bruno first moved, and Paqueta was even pictured wearing a Newcastle shirt while relaxing in Bruno's garden.
However, it was West Ham who ended up bringing Paqueta to the Premier League, where it took him a bit longer than Bruno to establish himself, but he soon became a huge star for the Hammers.
Paqueta recently courted some controversy, having been investigated for spot fixing, but the Brazilian was recently cleared of all charges and has once again emerged as a transfer target for Newcastle. At least according to some sources.
Keith Downie has been told there's no interest in Lucas Paqueta from Newcastle
However, Keith Downie has taken to X to dispel those rumours, saying there is no interest from Newcastle.
❌ 🇧🇷 Told there is no interest from Newcastle in Lucas Paqueta, despite a lot of chatter on here…
#NUFC are looking to add a midfielder, but not the Brazilian.
It did feel unlikely that we'd suddenly turn our attention towards Paqueta when, despite fans hoping it would happen, there had never actually been an interest in him before.
Newcastle have other midfield targets in mind
Bruno and Paqueta had a great partnership at Lyon and again at the international level, and they remain very close off the pitch, but it seems that the Newcastle coaching staff don't see him as the right fit.
Who Newcastle to pursue to replace Sean Longstaff still remains to be seen, with Jack Rudoni of Coventry still being touted as well as Bilal El Khannouss from Leicester City, who has emerged as a target today.
We're hoping that we make a move for Rudoni as he looks like a touch of class, and it's been reported that he would be keen on the switch.
