Premier League relegation battlers Newcastle United enquired about the availability of Hellas Verona’s Serie A hotshot Giovanni Simeone during the January transfer window, as reported by Tuttomercatoweb.
Cagliari must be kicking themselves.
Because, while the Sardinians are hovering just one place and three points above the relegation zone, a striker they loaned out to a top-flight rival last summer has just fired his new employers to within touching distance of Atalanta and Roma in the Europa League places.
Simeone scored a hat-trick as Hellas Verona beat Venezia 3-1 on Sunday.
Remarkably, that wasn’t even his best performance of the season. Simeone netted all four goals in a thumping win over Lazio in October. His 25-yard wondergoal against Juventus, meanwhile, was a work of art that wouldn’t have looked out of place in the Guggenheim.
Could Newcastle still sign Giovanni Simeone?
“I haven’t seen a performance like this for a long time,” beamed Hellas coach Igor Tudor after Simeone’s double-salvo against Juve.
“Not just for the four goals, but also his movement, his energy, his pressing… it was really impressive.”
Simeone, as a centre-forward, is the complete package.
Inheriting that famous knife-between-the-teeth tenacity from his father Diego, Simeone has added a new-found ruthless streak to his game this season, breaking the 15-goal barrier with that treble against Venezia.
TMW claim that Newcastle enquired about the Argentina international in January. They weren’t the only ones.
The in-form centre-forward played nine minutes of football for Cagliari before leaving for Hellas in August.
Simeone is on loan at Verona but Igor Tudor’s high-flying side can sign him permanently for a bargain £10 million.
It is understood that, come the summer, Hellas would be willing to cash in for an immediate profit. Simeone is valued in the region of £22 million these days.
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