Newcastle United are confident they can complete a deal for Brighton’s Joao Pedro.
Joao Pedro forms a four-man Newcastle United summer transfer hitlist - and hopes are high a deal can be done.
The player has fallen out of favour at Brighton and Hove Albion, despite an impressive few campaigns on the south coast, and it looks to be the end of the road for the Brazilian at the Amex Stadium this summer.
While the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool have been credited with some interest in the 23-year-old, it is the Magpies very much leading the way for the player, who is hugely admired by the Magpies’ recruitment team, and head coach Eddie Howe.
Joao Pedro has been active on Instagram this week as talk of a deal to move to Newcastle United intensifies.placeholder image
Joao Pedro has been active on Instagram this week as talk of a deal to move to Newcastle United intensifies. | National World
‘Here we go’ - Pedro deal OFF
Transfer supremo Fabrizio Romano gets some stick for calling Pedro to NUFC a one of his usual ‘here we go’ moments, and while we’re not the biggest fan of the X chancer, his info was correct on this one. Well, almost.
NewcastleWorld understands the deal to take Pedro from Watford in the summer of 2022 was done, but head coach Eddie Howe pulled the plug on it, when it was found Callum Wilson’s injury would keep him out for some time. That led to a quick rethink and Newcastle then pivoted, at the behest of Howe, to Alexander Isak. And the rest, they say, is history.
Joao Pedro breaks silence
We could well be edging closer to something this summer, however, with the Magpies confident they can get a £60m deal over the line this summer. They’re also confident on James Trafford, despite Burnley’s inflated valuation of their young keeper.
And while Pedro has largely been silent on socials this summer - unlike fellow target Anthony Elanga - preferring to post training shots with little to no text, he’s broken rank in the last 24 hours - even if only to call out a Real Madrid player for a game of padel.
The story, uploaded to Instagram, shows Pedro talking to Reinier Jesus. The latter appears to call out the NUFC target in Portuguese for a game, and then Pedro responds with: “Só falar o horário e aonde 👀.”
Which translated means: “Just say the time and where.”
When Pedro, or anyone for that matter, will speak about a potential move is anyone’s guess. But we do know Newcastle are not due back into pre-season training for around three weeks - and the clock for new deals is ticking, with Eddie Howe wanting at least a couple of those done before the players return to Benton.
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