Reports have emerged that Newcastle United have taken a fancy to Liverpool forward Diogo Jota and are willing to pay £60million for his services.
That is according to FootballTransfers.com who claim that Jota’s versatility is one of the big reasons he is being considered by Eddie Howe.
The 26-year-old Portuguese foward can play anywhere across the front line and has proven he can score at the top level with both Wolves and Liverpool.
Jota’s Liverpool future is unclear now Darwin Nunez is finding form
With the arrival of Darwin Nunez, Jota is finding playing time hard to come by at Anfield this season and as such, may find himself surplus to requirements on Merseyside. In fact, he’s only made nine Premier League appearances for the Reds and hasn’t found the net in either of those. It’s a similar story in the Champions League too, no goals in five appearances. He has, however, laid on six assists across those 14 outings.
Last season was where Jota really shone and was practically an ever-present in Liverpool’s Premier League campaign. He appeared in 35 of the Reds’ league games and bagged himself 15 goals alongside six assists.
Jota signed for Liverpool from Wolves for £45million in 2020 following their Premier League title winning season. The move was greeted by bewilderment at the time as Jota’s form had dipped for Wolves and he’d lost his place in their side, so for Liverpool to come and pay so much for him was seen as an odd move at the time.
It’s safe to say, though, that Jota repaid Jurgen Klopp‘s faith in him last season to a point where Liverpool are now demanding more than they paid for him despite him not featuring much this season.
Whether I can see this move being a one Newcastle will make? The answer is no. It’s not that I don’t think Jota would be a good fit, he’s still not hit his peak years, he has Champions League experience, he’s played at the top end of the Premier League – the issues come from the other side.
Liverpool won’t let him go to a rival
I can’t see Liverpool letting Jota leave for a league rival. Liverpool have leapfrogged above Newcastle in the Champions League race this season, but they’ll be very aware of what’s going on behind the scenes at St James’ Park and will therefore not be keep to help Newcastle steal a march on them ahead of next season when the competition for places is likely to be even closer.
If Liverpool are to let Jota go, I can see him moving abroad as the only clubs in the Premier League likely to have £60million to spend on one player will be those fighting Liverpool for one of those top-four spots.
Newcastle still have plenty of options open to them, and the higher they finish in the league, the more options they will have.
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