Newcastle United want Nicolo Barella but Inter Milan have been urged to keep the Italy international unless the Premier League giants are willing to pay ‘over £100 million’.
In truth, it won’t take a nine-figure, English football record fee to lure the Italy international away from Simone Inzaghi’s beaten Champions League finalists.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Newcastle United’s rumoured £50 million proposal is ‘nowhere near’ Inter Milan’s asking price. But with the Nerazzuri facing up to another summer of cost-cutting and Financial Fair Play-forced sales, Nicolo Barella – like almost everyone at San Siro – is likely to be available for the right price.
Newcastle United pursuing Nicolo Barella deal with Inter Milan
Stefano Impallomeni, who played Serie A football for AS Roma, believes Barella is worth a fee similar to the one Arsenal will have to pay to bring in Declan Rice from West Ham United.
“If an offer over 100 were to arrive, we could think about it,” Impallomeni tells Tuttomercatoweb.
The reality, however, is that Barella’s price-tag is likely to sit somewhere in the middle. Somewhere between £50 million and £100 million, albeit probably closer to the former than the latter.
Newcastle, per The Telegraph, are ‘pushing hard’ to make Barella their first signing since returning to the Champions League. Eddie Howe’s summer budget could be limited to around £75 million due to their own FFP pressures, however, meaning there is only so far Newcastle can go in pursuit of the former Cagliari ace (The Daily Mail).
‘One of the best three midfielders in Europe’
Though if they can agree a deal with Inter, Howe will be getting an industrious, highly-competitive and supremely-technical footballer. One who arguably combines Bruno Guimaraes’ poise with the power and presence of a Joe Willock or a Joelinton.
“Barella is without a shadow of a doubt one of the three best midfielders in European football. Without a shadow of a doubt,” former England manager Fabio Capello said in 2021, when the 26-year-old was the driving force behind Antonio Conte’s Scudetto-winning Inter team.
“He has vision, stamina, quality and pace. He does everything right. Achraf Hakimi (right-back) has pace, but the difference is Hakimi gets there and boots it into the box. Barella crosses the ball precisely. That is a very big difference.
“Barella wins back the ball and then passes it to start moves.”
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