Newcastle United want to sign Independiente sensation Alan Velasco with his £18 million release clause no concern to the Premier League side, according to FootMercato.
There is something rather romantic about an Argentine attacker.
Maybe it’s they way they seem to glide across the pitch, transforming even the stickiest of mud-baths into a lake of pure, black ice. Maybe it’s the way they slalom through challenges while barely breaking sweat.
Either way, at the age of just 17, Velasco already appears to have shades of Paulo Dybala or Lionel Messi about him with clubs from all over Europe queuing up to take a look at a teenager who has made his first-team breakthrough at Independiente since the turn of the year.
FootMercato claims that Monaco, who handed the recruitment reigns to former Tottenham and Southampton talentspotter Paul Mitchell recently, have another fresh-faced superkid on their radar.
And the 2017 Ligue 1 champions have history when it comes to pay eye-watering fees for unproven youngsters. Two years ago, the club from Monte Carlo gambled £17 million on a 16-year-old Pietro Pellegri.
Newcastle, in contrast, have been far more reserved in the transfer market with the much-maligned Mike Ashley keeping the pursestrings tightly drawn at St James’ Park.
A proposed Saudi Arabian takeover threatens to turn the North East giants into one of the richest clubs on planet earth however and, according to reports in France, the Magpies have their beady eyed fixed on something shiny.
Even an £18 million release clause is not enough to put Newcastle off Velasco, it seems.
Maybe this is an indication that Newcastle’s prospective new owners will prioritise young, hungry, up-and-coming talents rather than established superstars.
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