Lazio talisman Ciro Immobile has claimed that Newcastle United approached him earlier this summer while expressing an interest in Max Allegri and Luciano Spalletti, speaking to Corriere dello Sport.
While the proposed Mohamed Bin Salman takeover split one of English football’s most passionate fan bases, another year under Mike Ashley has once again united Magpies supporters in disappointment and disillusion.
After spending much of the summer being linked with some of football’s biggest names, it turns out that Lazio’s record-equalling Italy international will not be replacing Joelinton at St James’ Park after all.
Gazzetta dello Sport claimed in June that Newcastle had offered £49 million for Immobile, with a £140,000-a-week contract mooted.
But, according to the man himself, Newcastle were not just looking for a world-class goal-scorer.
They also had their sights firmly fixed on two of the most experienced tacticians in Italian football.
“During the period in which there was talk of the possible purchase of Newcastle by the Sheikh’s fund they called my agent, Alessandro Moggi,” Immobile said, in quotes translated by Goal.
“Then the Premier League did not approve that proposal, or the fund withdrew, I don’t remember well. I know they were also looking for an Italian coach, Allegri or Spalletti.”
Allegri and Spalletti are still without a job, having departed Juventus and Inter Milan respectively in 2019.
Immobile, meanwhile, equalled Gonzalo Higuain’s record for the most goals in a single Serie A season in 2019/20, hitting the target a remarkable 36 times in 37 games for a Lazio side who, until the final weeks of the campaign, looked set to usurp Juventus’s throne.
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