Newcastle have been encouraged to step up their pursuit of the Brazilian and will now look to negotiate a price. The 22-year-old has emerged as Newcastle’s priority target since missing out on Brentford winger Bryan Mbeumo and it is hoped a suitable deal can be thrashed out quickly.
Brighton, though, are likely to want to maximise the fee with Newcastle valuing the player at around £60m (€70m).
There is a growing confidence that a deal can be done, although sources have stressed there is still a lot of work to do before Newcastle complete their first transfer of the summer.
The fact that Brighton have already added a striker in this transfer window, in the shape of Greek youngster Charalampos Kostoulas, would appear to improve Newcastle’s chances of a successful pursuit of Joao Pedro. However, there is caution too as Pedro has been looked at by other Premier League clubs such as Chelsea.
Manager Eddie Howe has been a huge fan of the forward for several years and was on the verge of signing him in the summer of 2022, before landing Alexander Isak in a club-record £63m deal.
Nottingham Forest’s Anthony Elanga is also a long-standing target and Newcastle are aware of his asking price, which is thought to be around £50m. Forest, though, have denied that there has been any direct contact with Newcastle at this stage and want to keep the winger.
Whether Newcastle can sign both players in the same window remains to be seen, but it would be a major coup and would give Howe major upgrades in his offensive options ahead of their return to the Champions League.
The club are also proceeding with options to fill their need for a centre-back and are looking at the foreign market to do so. There has been some satisfaction internally that Newcastle’s targets abroad remain a secret, although they have regularly scouted Sporting Lisbon centre-back Ousmane Diomande.
The 21-year-old Ivory Coast international has been heavily linked with moves to both Chelsea and Crystal Palace this summer, but Newcastle are likely to also be at the table. Newcastle kept their negotiations with AC Milan for Italy international Sandro Tonali a closely guarded secret two years ago, deliberately leaking alternative names in order to distract from their ultimately successful attempt to land the midfielder.
The only one of their centre-back targets in the public domain is England international Marc Guehi whom they failed to sign last summer.
Pedro holds universal appeal for the various members of Newcastle’s recruitment team as he has the versatility to play across the front three. That means he will provide competition and cover for Isak as a central striker, but can also be deployed on either flank.
At 23, the former Watford player fits the ideal age profile for the players Newcastle want to sign, with the intention being to bring in those who can grow with the team in the years ahead.
Newcastle were forced to end their interest in Mbeumo after the Brentford player signalled his preference for a move to Manchester United, having also made it clear he would only consider a move to Newcastle if they made him their highest paid player.
As new contract talks with Isak are pencilled in for later this summer, which would make the Sweden international their top earner, Newcastle sensibly decided the Mbeumo deal was not worth pursuing. Privately they have described Mbeumo’s wage demands as “enormous” and “impossible to match”.
There has also been a lack of progress made to sign Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford. Despite being led to believe that the player had a verbal agreement with the newly promoted Premier League club that he would be allowed to leave this summer if a suitable offer came in − with Newcastle his club of choice − an asking price of almost £40m is way beyond their own valuation of the 22-year-old.
With other positions to fill in the squad − and with Nick Pope still regarded as an elite Premier League goalkeeper − Newcastle have more pressing needs and have signalled they will walk away from talks if the asking price remains as it is.
Interestingly, although the names of their domestic targets are well known − Aston Villa midfielder Jacob Ramsey is another − Newcastle are pleased with the fact they have been able to operate more secretly while looking abroad.
Given their failed attempts to sign centre-back Guehi last year, it would not be a surprise if their main defensive target currently plays outside of the Premier League.
Some of Newcastle’s most successful pieces of business under Howe − Bruno Guimaraes, Isak, Tonali and Sven Botman − have all been signed from European clubs.