Newcastle United are now actively working on bringing young talent Matheus Franca to St James’ Park ahead of the January transfer window.
This is according to reliable transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, who has been speaking about Eddie Howe’s side on the latest episode of the Here We Go podcast.
Everything seems to be on the up for Newcastle at the moment with their encouraging start to the campaign backed up by a stunning return to action on Boxing Day against Leicester City.
And with the winter market now just a matter of days away, Romano believes Dan Ashworth and Newcastle are looking at the 18-year-old Flamengo forward as a potential player for the future.
As the Magpies currently sit up in the lofty heights of second in the Premier League table, it seems as if the Toon have their eyes on signing players for the long term.
Romano said: “Keep an eye on Matheus Franca. This boy I mentioned many times, it was a [few] years ago. This boy from Flamengo is one of my favourites in South America, now Newcastle are actively working to sign him, but they have to make a decision.”
TIF Thoughts on Romano’s comments…
We think this would be a really interesting addition if the Magpies were able to bring him in having already signed 18-year-old Garang Kuol earlier in the year.
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Franca has shown a huge amount of versatility at Flamengo having played a number of roles across the frontline as well as in attacking midfield.
And across his last 28 games for the Brazilian side, Franca has been able to return eight goals and three assists across all competitions (via Transfermarkt).
Although this is an impressive return for an 18-year-old, it would be difficult to imagine him making much of an impact immediately on Howe’s starting XI.
However, this only shows the ambition of the Newcastle owners in not only planning in the short term, but for the long-term success of the Tyneside club.