The chances of Newcastle United signing Kees Smit in January continue to look incredibly slim.
Back in November, Geordie Boot Boys revealed that Newcastle United were interested in signing Smit from AZ Alkmaar.
The 19-year-old central midfielder has been linked with most of Europe’s elite clubs and Newcastle are just one of the teams keen to sign him.
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Smit has emerged as one of the hottest prospects in European football, although agreeing a deal in the January transfer window is generally more difficult than it is in the summer.
Still, Newcastle hoped an aggressive approach for Smit could pay off, and there is some logic to that.
Craig Hope of The Daily Mail, however, has poured cold water over that suggestion.
Kees Smit could now be too expensive for Newcastle United in January
On Friday, Hope posted a video on his YouTube channel.
The journalist revealed that the teenager may just be too expensive for Newcastle during the January transfer window.
AZ would reportedly demand more than £40million for the teenager, which is out of Newcastle’s price range at this stage.
That doesn’t mean the club wouldn’t be interested by the time the summer transfer window rolls around, just that any movement in January is considered unlikely.
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“Now, I’ve got a significant development here in that it’s not really expected now that Smit will move on this month and if he does it will be for a fee beyond where Newcastle want and are able to go this month,” he said.
“Now originally, when we wrote that story I think we were talking of a transfer fee somewhere around £20-25-30 million.
“Well right now, the numbers being quoted are in excess of £40million if he is to move this month.
“This is the information coming into me and again a little caveat, asterisk, here. Reporters in January, we report what we know in what we’re told at the time as it stands.
“Things do change. It’s a fluid transfer market. Here on January the 2nd, My information is that Kees Smit is unlikely to move on this month.”
Eddie Howe’s honest answer on Newcastle United spending power amid Kees Smit links
While Newcastle do have money to spend in the January transfer window, it doesn’t mean they will be breaking the bank.
The club, of course, spent around £250million in the summer and still have PSR calculations to consider.
With that in mind, marquee additions remain unlikely.
When asked about the potential of a big money signing in January during his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s game with Crystal Palace, Eddie Howe was honest about it all.
The Newcastle United manager said: “I suppose you are talking big financial outlay, I don’t think that is the desire this month for various reasons because I don’t think it’s a great month necessarily to make that kind of signing.
“Any signing we make in this window will restrict our ability to do business in the summer, so I think we’ve got to be really careful that we make the right decisions for the here and now and for the future.
“We’re still in that position where PSR will influence every decision that we make so that’s why we have to be really smart.
“I don’t think that’s necessarily the wish in this month, but I think our injury situation, to a degree, will impact what we do and don’t do.”
The risk, of course, is that by waiting to act on a move for someone like Smit, Newcastle run the risk of losing out to rival clubs.
Little about Newcastle’s summer transfer window would suggest that they would be able to beat the likes of Real Madrid, Chelsea or Bayern Munich – all of whom have been linked with Smit – to the punch.
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