Matheus Franca is a name that kept popping up in January as a Newcastle United target but Flamengo rejected the initial bid.
Brazilian media are now claiming that Newcastle will come back in for Matheus Franca this summer.
In fact, as recently as May, Newcastle said they ‘promise‘ to return with a bid this summer despite him signing a new contract with Flamengo which contains a crazy £174million release clause.
Newcastle are ready with a £19m bid for Matheus Franca
True to their word then, Newcastle are about to bid £19million for Franca according to Julio Miguel Neto via Twitter, who said: “After signalling they would not increase their offer of 20m euros (proposal rejected by the board of the Rio de Janeiro club) for the Flamengo player Mateus Franca, Newcastle are not giving up on the gem of the rubro-negra youth team, and intend to increase the proposal to 22.5m euros.”
Brazilian outlet, Lance have also added fuel to the fire saying that Flamengo are expecting bids this summer for Franca and Newcastle are likely to be in the mix.
Flamengo have set a £21.5million valuation on ‘fantastic‘ Franca but Lance believe there’s a chance that there’s room for negotiation so Newcastle’s potential £19million bid could seal the deal for the 19-year-old wonderkid.
It won’t be as easy as all that however, with other clubs interested in the attacking midfielder who bagged three goals in 28 outings last season for Flamengo.
Franca made the NXGN list of 50 best wonderkids in football
Crystal Palace are said to be keen on Franca as well as Bayer Leverkusen.
Newcastle have tracked Franca for a while now and it seems like they’re very keen to bring him to England.
Franca appeared on the NXGN list for 2023 – The 50 best wonderkids in football. I’m not sure if the plan would be to bring him in a first-team player or a development player, but either way he’d be an exciting addition to the squad with an eye on the future.
Receive a digest of our best Newcastle content each week direct to your mailbox
