Newcastle United scouted Ivan Fresneda on Friday night as they look to rival Arsenal for the Real Valladolid right back’s signature.
That’s according to The Athletic, who claim that Newcastle sent a scout over to Spain to watch Fresneda in action.
Fresneda started at right back for Valladolid as they hosted Real Madrid on Friday night.
Real unsurprisingly claimed the win with Karim Benzema scoring two late goals to hand Carlo Ancelotti’s men a 2-0 victory.
This will have been an emotional game for Fresneda.
The 18-year-old was born in Madrid and even spent four years in the Real youth ranks before moving on to Leganes and then Valladolid.
Fresneda is now becoming a huge talent with Valladolid and Newcastle’s scouting mission just adds to the belief that a big move is in the offing.
Newcastle face Arsenal battle for Ivan Fresneda
The Daily Mail report that Newcastle have already expressed their interest in signing Fresneda.
Valladolid are allegedly expected to sell the teenager for around £10million and a deal could come as soon as this month.
That report does though add that Arsenal are also watching Fresneda closely ahead of a potential move of their own.
Arsenal have converted Ben White to play as a right back this season and still have Takehiro Tomiyasu in their ranks.
Yet Arsenal may well believe that Fresneda is such a huge talent for the future that they can’t pass him up.
£10million would be within the budgets of both Newcastle and Arsenal, but whether they think it’s good value for an 18-year-old is another matter.
Newcastle may even be wise to allow Fresneda to return on loan to Valladolid if it helps them win the race.
The idea would be for Fresneda to eventually learn from Kieran Trippier and then take over from him moving forward.
That would be a long-term move for Newcastle but having signed Garang Kuol only to likely loan him out, the Magpies are open to such deals and may well fancy similar with Fresneda.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
