According to Gazzetta Dello Sport, Newcastle United have put forward a proposal of around €55million (£49million) for Lazio striker Ciro Immobile.
It’s claimed that Newcastle have put a deal on the table for Lazio to consider. It, rather unsurprisingly, depends on the club being taken over by the Saudi-led consortium chasing a deal.
The deal would see Newcastle pay a club-record £49million, and then commit to paying Immobile €8million-a-year in wages over five years – around £138,000-a-week.
That brings the total cost of a deal to €135million (£121million) with the fee and salary combined, which would be a staggering outlay for the new regime.
Immobile, 30, has been nothing short of a goal machine for Lazio. He’s now hit 116 goals in 167 games for the Rome-based side, having joined from Borussia Dortmund in 2016.
The Italian is an outstanding all-round striker; he’s strong and dangerous in the air, he can run in behind, he’s impressive on the deck and always seems to be in the right place at the right time.
That all sounds great, but this report seems odd. Newcastle’s takeover doesn’t really appear to be imminent due to various issues, so putting an offer on the table that depends on the deal going through seems unlikely.
Additionally, committing to paying such huge wages up until Immobile is 35 seems rather questionable. Any new regime will likely want to build Newcastle up for the long term, and spending so much Immobile doesn’t really do that, so this one just doesn’t seem realistic right now.
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