Newcastle United want Marcos Leonardo but the Santos wonderkid has been warned about joining a ‘small club’ like the Magpies.
Santos presidency candidate Ricardo Agostinho is urging wonderkid Marcos Leonardo to avoid a move to Newcastle United.
The Magpies may be in the market for another attacker in January amid recent injury concerns over Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson.
Stuttgart striker Serhou Guirassy is a key target according to TEAMtalk, but Newcastle could go for a totally different option.
Marcos Leonardo warned against Newcastle United move
Brazilian news outlet UOL Esporte reported in October that Newcastle have made a first move to sign Santos talent Marcos Leonardo.
It was suggested that Newcastle had made ‘first contacts’ over a deal to bring Leonardo to St James’ Park.
The report suggested that Santos were seeking a deal worth around €25million (£22million) with Leonardo backed for a huge future.
The 20-year-old has already played 167 games for Santos, bagging 54 goals and 11 assists in the process.
South American football expert Tim Vickery has made comparisons to Sergio Aguero and Newcastle will have hope of an exciting deal.
However, Ricardo Agostinho – who is hoping to be voted as the new Santos president later this week – has warned Leonardo against a move to Tyneside.
Agostinho has told Diario do Litoral that he thinks Leonardo has to join a club on the same level as Santos, which he believes to be Real Madrid, Barcelona and AC Milan.
Agostinho feels that joining a ‘small team’ like Newcastle ‘doesn’t make sense’, putting them in the same boat as Almeria and Braga.
The idea is to either tie Leonardo down to a new deal with triggers for salary increases down the line, or he moves on to a ‘top team’ – which Agostinho doesn’t believe includes Newcastle.
“Oh, no, without a doubt,” said Agostinho on whether Leonardo could join another Brazilian club. “Our stance is, either he makes an agreement with us for this contract model with these triggers or he actually goes to a top team in Europe. And it doesn’t make sense, for him to play in a small team with all due respect, to play in Newcastle or anything like that. We need to have a focused athlete, who needs to understand that Santos is the pinnacle of his career in teams as big as they are, but that he will not play on a bigger team. So why is he going to play for Almeria? Why is he going to play for Braga?”
“He has to play there in the same teams, at Real Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, the same teams as Santos. Otherwise, it’s not good for him and financially it won’t be that different because we have plans that if he makes an effort, if he dedicates himself, he will earn a lot of money, it will help the club a lot,” he added.
Newcastle fans will certainly disagree here; they are in the Champions League just like Real, Barca and group rivals Milan.
The Magpies are ascending under Eddie Howe and are certainly a more attractive proposition than Almeria or Braga right now.
Agostinho has to big up Santos as he bids for the presidency, but his comments may just leave Magpies fans either irritated or bemused.
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