According to Record, Newcastle saw a €13 million (£11.4 million) bid for Sporting Lisbon maestro Matheus Nunes rejected in January.
The fact that the Magpies were interested is no secret.
We recently covered a story from O Jogo, which revealed that the Tyneside-based outfit failed with a £10 million bid for the Brazilian.
Now, however, we know that Steve Bruce’s side upped that offer slightly, although they were still met with the same response.
So, why was the £11.4 million offer rejected?
Well, Record say that Sporting Lisbon did not agree to the bid for two reasons.
One of these was because the Portuguese giants didn’t want to weaken their squad, which is arguably why most bids are rejected.
However, they also rebuffed the offer because they believe that the 22-year-old’s value will soar over time, clearly feeling that they can receive more for their midfield maestro in future.
That will come as a shame to Newcastle, as the South American looks to be a real talent.
The Rio de Janeiro-born playmaker appears to be a true box-to-box midfielder.
As Transfermarkt shows, Nunes has played at centre-midfield, defensive-midfield and also attacking-midfield so far this season.
In our view, the Magpies should definitely continue to monitor the Brazilian.
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