‘The time has come’: £15m striker Newcastle want will likely move in January according to agent

Marcos Leonardo who is linked with a move to Newcastle United is likely to leave Santos in January according to his agent.

Brazilian outlet BolaVIP recently said that Newcastle are in pole position to sign 20-year-old Marcos Leonardo from Santos and have already made moves over a £15million move.

Now, to add fuel to the fire, Leonardo's agent has said that she expects the forward to leave Santos in January as he wants to test himself in Europe.

Real Madrid are heavily linked with a move for Marcos Leonardo along with Newcastle

Newcastle are absolutely desperate for a new striker with Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson our only two first-team centre-forwards and both of them are injured, although Isak is expected to feature against Chelsea on Saturday.

Marco Galvão via Getty Images

Given that Leonardo has already been compared to Sergio Aguero and Romario, we could certainly do a lot worse for £15million.

The Magpies will face competition for Leonardo in January, though, with Real Madrid also keen to bring the Brazilian to Europe.

Marcos Leonardo wants to play in Europe

The Evening Standard also suggests that Arsenal and Manchester United are monitoring the situation as his agent, Rafaela Pimenta revealed that he had offers to move in the summer but it wasn't the right time.

“Already in the previous transfer market he had the possibility of being sold, but Santos’ sporting situation was very particular. He agreed to stay because he wanted to help out until the end of the championship.

“He didn’t want to leave because it wasn’t the right thing to do. But the time has come to move. He wants to have a European experience and his time will come this winter.”

With Leonardo's potential and his small transfer fee, this is going to be a tough one for Newcastle to pull off, but if the Bolavip report is right, we already have a leg-up on the opposition.

This one would definitely fall under the remit of Marcel Bout with Leonardo being just 20 years old. Make it happen, Marcel.