With money available for Eddie Howe to bring in some much-needed quality reinforcements in the January transfer window, Newcastle United should be targeting FC Porto’s talisman Luis Diaz.
According to Portuguese outlet SPORT TV (and relayed by various English outlets), the Magpies are prepared to activate the player’s release clause in January, which is £67.5 million.
That would comfortably eclipse the club-record £40 million paid for Joelinton in the summer of 2019 (BBC Sport).
But unlike Newcastle’s number seven, who has failed to live up to the big price tag, Diaz is showcasing his goalscoring pedigree in the Champions League and is currently the top goalscorer in the Portuguese top flight.
The 24-year-old has scored back-to-back goals against Italian giants AC Milan, which has earned his team four points and has left them second in Champions League Group B, which also has Liverpool and Atletico Madrid.
From 11 Liga Bwin games this season, the Colombian has nine goals and two assists to his name.
He has kicked on following the four goals he got at this year’s Copa America. He finished just one behind Lionel Messi at the competition.
What would Diaz bring to Newcastle?
Firepower, creativity, quality and much-needed support for the likes of Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin.
Howe may be inheriting a team that has the second worst defence in the league, but beyond Wilson and Saint-Maximin, nobody else has scored more than one Premier League goal this season.
With the likes of Joelinton, Joe Willock and Miguel Almiron yet to get off the mark, Howe is going to have to find a way to tighten up the back, but also add goals to his team at the same time.
Diaz is a left-winger, who wouldn’t only lighten the goalscoring burden on Wilson and Saint-Maximin, but he could also help form a devastating attacking trio which blows teams away.
His availability may depend on whether Porto qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League, but if Newcastle pay Diaz’s minimum fee release clause, Porto cannot intervene.
At the age of 24, he has his prime goalscoring years ahead of him and with him being on track to comfortably eclipse his previous best goalscoring campaign (14 goals), Diaz looks destined for a big-money move.
The South American might be tempted to be the man to spearhead Newcastle’s charge into a new era of hope and success.
Playing for the Toon, who are now backed by PIF, will make the project an intriguing destination for many big-name players, but the important thing is Howe identifies who is joining the club for the right reasons.
If Diaz is keen to move to Tyneside and make a name himself in the Premier League, then Newcastle simply have to pay up.
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