Premier League trio Aston Villa, Newcastle and West Ham United miss out on Jerry St Juste as Sporting Lisbon agree a £9 million deal for the Bundesliga ace, as reported by Record.
Last month, Mainz coach Bo Svensson admitted that both of his star centre-halves – St Juste and captain Moussa Niakhate – could leave the MEWA Arena. Both of their their contracts are expiring in 2023.
Unfortunately for fans of the high-flying O5ers, Svensson’s prediction is already ringing true.
St Juste, a former Netherlands U21 international who joined Mainz after making his name at Feyenoord, jetted out for a medical at the 2021 Portuguese champions earlier this week. And an agreement has now been reached.
Sporting, who lost their Primeira Liga title to Porto on Saturday night, will pay £9 million for St Juste. They will tie the jet-heeled defender down until the summer of 2027.
The all-seeing, all-knowing oracle that is Fabrizio Romano backs up those claims on his official Twitter page. ‘Here we go’ incoming, it seems.
Sporting Lisbon land St Juste
St Juste, a talented, ball-playing centre-half who was clocked as the fastest player in the whole of the Bundesliga not so long ago (some feat, when you consider Alphonso Davies, Erling Haaland and Leroy Sane all ply their trade in Germany), had his fair share of admirers in the Premier League too.
Newcastle United were set to make another approach, having held initial talks with St Juste’s camp back in January. West Ham and Leicester City are also keen.
According to Jornal de Noticias, Aston Villa joined their top-flight rivals in the race for St Juste’s signature recently.
All four clubs will have to look elsewhere, however, with white smoke billowing out of Sporting’s Estadio Jose Alvalade.
Newcastle’s pursuit of a new centre-half is proving to be fraught with difficulties. St Juste is already the third Magpies target to agree a move to a rival club, following Sven Botman (AC Milan) and Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund).
Where Newcastle turn next is anyone’s guess.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
