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Malaga supremo Kike Perez has vowed he will fight to keep Antonito Cordero at the club unless told otherwise.
Newcastle United are understood to be closing in on an agreement with the 18-year-old, who is out of contract at the end of the season. Predominantly a right-winger but can play on either flank or as a No.10, Perez has 11 goal contributions in Liga 2 this season.
A turbulent few years at Malaga saw the club dropping to the third tier in 2023 despite reaching the Champions League quarter-finals a decade earlier. They secured an instant promotion but sit 17th - a far cry from those lofty La Liga heights.
The Daily Mail reported last month that Newcastle are set to win the race for his signature - pipping the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona. Cordero is a Spain under-21 international and, as a free agent, his arrival would be a coup for the Magpies.
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He is understood to have visited Tyneside and held talks with Toon sporting director Paul Mitchell. The report suggested Cordero may be loaned out - similarly to how Yankuba Minteh developed following his arrival.
However, Malaga are not going down without a fight and retains “hope” that the wonderkid will stay. Speaking to PTV Malaga’s Zona Deporte, club chief Perez stayed optimistic that fresh terms can be agreed.
“I have hope because, and I’ve always said this, I’m no longer saying this as someone who works at Malaga or as their general director,” he said. “I’m saying this as someone who works in football. Things will happen and, in the end, we’ll see what happens.
“I see it as logical. I don’t think that whether you’re here or not, people give everything until the end. I’m not one to hold things against others. Whoever is here, as long as they give everything they have, there’s nothing to say.”
Paul Mitchell blueprint to develop young Newcastle United stars
Mitchell - who slammed the club’s scouting network last September - views youth development as a major cog as Newcastle aim to close the gap on the elite. Newcastle have already signed Vakhtang Salia and Baran Yildiz ahead of the summer transfer window.
“I think it's difficult coming into a predefined strategy,” he told a room of reporters. “Should our scouting and recruitment be driven more extensively with a wider reaching net?
“It definitely should, because this is becoming a really nuanced space now, when you can't just capitally fund everything every year and buy loads of players at peak age and peak price. Of course it needs to be, and that's the responsibility of me, the scouting team and Eddie. Is it fit for purpose? Not last winter gone, the winter before that. Is it fit for purpose in the modern game?
“Because other clubs that have adopted a different approach over time, with more intelligence, more data-informed than we are, actually prospered in this window. That's where we have to grow to be now.”
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