Jordan Lukaku has opened up on his failed move to Newcastle United in 2019 after a big-money deal was agreed.
The brother of Romelu Lukaku came extraordinarily close to joining the Magpies only for the deal to collapse in the final hours.
Two years after Romelu made a £90m move to Manchester United, his brother Jordan looked set to join him in the Premier League amid links to Newcastle United.
The Magpies, managed by Rafael Benitez at the time, were in the market for a new left-back and had set their sights on Lukaku, who was playing at Lazio.
However, the agreement collapsed and the 30-year-old now finds himself playing for Turkish side Adanaspor five years later.
Jordan Lukaku opens up on failed £18m Newcastle move
After signing the likes of Mikel Merino, Fabian Schar and Martin Dubravka in the 2018 summer window, Newcastle were looking to bolster their squad again in January.
Miguel Almiron arrived on Tyneside in a club-record £21m deal in the January window and attention then turned towards a new left-back.
Speaking to SoFoot, Lukaku has claimed that his move to Newcastle was so close that he had even posed with the club’s shirt.
“The sporting director thought that in any case, I had no choice but to stay, because according to him, the clubs would not come for me. The next day I brought an offer of €21m (£18m) from Newcastle just to show him,” Lukaku said.
“Before the medical examination in England, I had relapsed against Naples.
“I knew that I was going to fail, but I still went there to show Lazio that I wasn’t finished. Benitez wanted me, I even took the photo, but once again the injuries caught up with me.”
Lukaku’s deal eventually fell through and Newcastle instead signed Antonio Barecca on loan from Monaco for the remainder of the season.
The Italian played a total of four minutes of football at Newcastle that season before returning to Monaco in the summer.
Newcastle United had a lucky escape
Lukaku has spoken openly about his struggles with injury and his failed medical at Newcastle. Taking a look at how his career has panned out since his failed move to the Premier League, it’s fair to say that Newcastle had a lucky escape.
Lukaku went on loan to Antwerp and Vicenza after his Newcastle move fell through before joining Ponferradina and Adanaspor on permanent deals.
It is certainly not a glistening career path, and to make matters worse he has not made more than 20 appearances in a single season since 2020-21.
Newcastle have enough injuries to worry about without having injury-prone Lukaku on their books.
Thankfully, Newcastle have found a long-term solution at left-back in Lewis Hall, who has been superb since his £28m move.
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