According to RMC Sport, Newcastle United’s potential owners have contacted Antero Henrique – and told him they want to emulate Manchester City.
It’s claimed that Henrique has emerged as a top candidate to become Newcastle’s director of football. He has now held talks with the Saudi Arabian investors looking to buy Newcasatle.
Those involved allegedly told Henrique that they want to build Newcastle up to become Premier League title challengers, much like Manchester City did after their Abu Dhabi-based investment.
No deal has been agreed with Henrique yet, but he is interested enough to listen to the project as he looks to find a way back into the game.
Henrique, 52, was director of football at Porto from 2005 to 2017, before heading to Paris Saint-Germain. He only lasted two years in the PSG job, and has been out of football for almost a year.
Like any person involved in transfers, there are good and bad deals in Henrique’s past. He helped bring in millions for Porto, selling on the likes of Anderson, Pepe, Falcao, Hulk, James Rodriguez, Joao Mourinho, Eliaquim Mangala, Jackson Martinez, Danilo, Alex Sandro and Andre Silva.
He oversaw huge deals at PSG as Neymar and Kylian Mbappe arrived, but deals for Yuri Berchiche, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Leandro Paredes have been less than impressive.
Additionally, he allowed a number of top young talents to leave PSG. Odsonne Edouard, Jonathan Ikone, Giovani Lo Celso and Yacine Adli were all sold under Henrique’s power.
That’s a somewhat mixed record for the Portuguese talent spotter, but he has experience with big clubs – and that may make him appealing to Newcastle as they look to become title challengers.
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