Newcastle United target Eberechi Eze took the Premier League by storm last season.
He joined Crystal Palace in the summer of 2020, costing £17million from Queens Park Rangers.
With no Premier League experience to his name, it was unclear how he’d adapt to the step up from the Championship after his big money move.
But Eze quickly put any doubts to bed, and established himself as a star at Selhurst Park. For a long time they’d been a one man team with Wilfried Zaha, but now they had another exciting talent in their ranks.
In his debut Premier League season, Eze scored four goals and provided six assists. 10 goal contributions from midfield is a wonderful return.
But would he have had the same impact at Newcastle United?
Newcastle were linked with Eberechi Eze in 2020
When Palace signed Eze in 2020, they beat multiple other Premier League clubs to his signature.
According to the Guardian, the Magpies were also interested in signing the then Championship star, alongside Aston Villa, West Brom and West Ham.
That summer, Newcastle made one major signing, bringing in Callum Wilson from Bournemouth. Steve Bruce wanted sensible, low risk additions, also bringing in Jamal Lewis, Jeff Hendrick and Ryan Fraser.
Perhaps spending £17million on a Championship player would’ve been seen as a ‘risk’. And with money limited under Mike Ashley, the club weren’t willing to take that chance.
It’s a decision that could cost the new Toon owners a lot of money, with the Sun claiming they want to pay £45million for the 23-year-old. That’s more than double what he would’ve cost almost two years ago.
Newcastle missed out on Eze in 2020, and now they’re going to have to break the bank to ensure they don’t make the same mistake.
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