Newcastle United have been linked with an interest in Real Valladolid defender Ivan Fresneda for a long time, but now it seems like he’s finally found a new club.
Young Spanish defender Ivan Fresneda has been on Newcastle‘s radar since January and was once again connected to the club going into the summer transfer window as it became clear that Eddie Howe was looking for a young right-back to deputise for Kieran Trippier.
Newcastle and Arsenal both wanted Ivan Fresneda
While Newcastle ultimately signed Tino Livramento from Southampton, Fresneda was always an exciting option.
The 18-year-old looked close to a move to the Premier League when it seemed that Arsenal had offered him a lucrative contract but that rumour ultimately went nowhere.
Now Fabrizio Romano has shared an update on X that says Fresneda has agreed to join Sporting CP for just £7.7million plus £2.5million in add-ons, saying: “Iván Fresneda to Sporting, here we go! The player has accepted after deal done between clubs for €9m plus €3m add ons package #Sporting Medical booked for Fresneda who’s set to sign until June 2028. 10% sell-on clause included, as called by Marca.”
Fresneda’s former manager Pacheta hailed him as ‘fantastic‘ when Newcastle were looking into him and fans were excited by the prospect of signing the youngster.
At one point Fresneda looked Newcastle-bound
There was even talk at one point in January that a deal had been done and Fresneda had said his goodbye’s to his Valladolid team mates, but for whatever reason the deal either fell through or was never real in the first place.
Fresneda ended up staying put and Newcastle moved for Harrison Ashby who is on loan at Swansea for whom he scored today in a 2-1 defeat to Preston North End.
Newcastle had clearly moved on to other targets quite quickly this summer so a move for Fresneda would only have happened if we’d been rejected by a few other targets higher on the list.
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