Newcastle United reportedly want striker Josef Martinez.
According to The Chronicle, Newcastle United are targeting Atlanta United forward Josef Martinez ahead of the January transfer window.
The Magpies raided Atlanta earlier this year to sign playmaker Miguel Almiron, and may head back to the Major League Soccer side to sign their star striker.
As recorded by Transfermarkt, Martinez has hit 31 goals in 35 games this season, following on from 35 goals in 39 games last season in all competitions.
That makes the 26-year-old a hugely exciting target, especially if he can join forces with Almiron once again, but it will obviously take a lot of money to lure him away.
Intriguingly, this isn’t the first time Newcastle have been linked with Martinez. When the forward was at Torino, Tuttosport reported in January 2017 that Rafael Benitez wanted him at St James’ Park, and was fighting Hamburg for his signature.
Newcastle were in the Championship at the time, and they ended up missing out as he chose to join Atlanta just a month after those reports emerged.
Benitez may well have been keeping tabs on Martinez, which brought Almiron onto Newcastle’s radar but ultimately couldn’t lure him to Tyneside almost three years ago.
It’s interesting that Newcastle are now looking to ramp up their interest in Martinez, and with the Magpies now being a Premier League club and already having Martinez’s former teammate Almiron at the club, maybe they’ll stand a better chance of a deal this time.
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