Newcastle United have missed out on far too many transfer targets over the last few windows.
Transfer windows have been a time of frustration for Newcastle fans in recent years with the club failing to sign any real improvements to Eddie Howe‘s starting lineup.
The Premier League Profit and Sustainability Rules have stopped Newcastle from tapping into their immense wealth following the PIF takeover and instead forced the club to sell some of their most exciting young talents.
But there was money to spend in the summer given that Newcastle bid £60m for Marc Guehi only to miss out on the Crystal Palace defender in the final few days of the window.
A new right-sided winger has also been at the top of Newcastle’s shopping list but the club have seen multiple targets pass them by.
Newcastle missed out on £55m Raphinha deal
One winger that Newcastle had their sights set on was Raphinha, and the club’s interest in the Brazilian dates back to when he was at Leeds United.
Newcastle made a £35m bid for Raphinha in 2022 when he was being linked with an exit from Elland Road.
It was suggested that Raphinha was Eddie Howe’s ‘dream signing’ after he was appointed Newcastle manager, but he ended up choosing to join Spanish giants Barcelona instead.
However, Newcastle still retained an interest in Raphinha, who didn’t exactly hit the ground running at the Catalan club.
Newcastle were linked with Raphinha this summer with the La Liga club open to selling the £55m star if they signed another winger.
However, it was suggested that Newcastle would struggle to afford Raphinha and a deal never came to fruition.
Newcastle fans react as Raphinha stars in Champions League
Raphinha has been in incredible form for Barcelona this season just months after he was linked with a move to St James’ Park.
He has scored nine goals and made eight assists in 13 appearances this season, and his best display so far came on Wednesday evening when he scored a hat-trick in Barcelona’s 4-1 Champions League win over Bayern Munich.
Raphinha has hogged the headlines on Thursday after his world-class display, and Newcastle fans on social media have been quick to react.
One Newcastle supporter wrote: “Raphinha might be the best player in the world”.
Another was left questioning Newcastle’s transfer decisions: “We were about to buy Raphinha for 60 mil. What went wrong?”
Another fan suggested that Raphinha could have joined Newcastle as far back as 2019…
“In Jan 2019, NUFC were offered Raphinha on a loan to buy deal from Sporting, based on appearances. Rejected, not because the player wasn’t good enough, but because Mike Ashley wouldn’t consider a loan deal with obligation. What today’s NUFC would give for that deal now,” he wrote.
One supporter wrote: “Raphinha might be the one that got away” while another pointed out: “Yeah we messed up when we missed out on Raphinha.”
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