Newcastle United’s deal for Antonio Cordero may be in jeopardy after a European giant joined the race for the 18-year-old.
It seemed as though we had acted swiftly enough to acquire the highly-rated starlet on a pre-contract agreement ahead of a move to the North East in the summer. However, there may yet be a few twists before the window opens.
The left-winger has five goals and five assists for Malaga in La Liga 2 this season and seemed set for Tyneside, though Newcastle may now have to deal with a bit of late interference to complete the free transfer.
FC Porto have moved late to match Newcastle’s ‘strong bid’ to sign Antonio Cordero in an attempt to scupper our chances of signing the 18-year-old, according to Marca.
The Spanish outlet do still claim that the winger’s future ‘points to Newcastle’, but this could be one to watch and hopefully a deal we don’t fumble following Porto’s bid.
Fears have also been eased by Craig Hope at [The Mail](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-14495141/Newcastle-new-stadium-St-James-Park-location-Wembley-Leazes.html), who states that “all roads still lead to Newcastle” despite Porto promising the Spaniard a faster route into the first team.
It’s thought Newcastle are still in the lead with discussions and there is an “expectation” he’ll sign a pre-contract agreement, although confirmation of that was “held up recently by lawyers”, reports Hope.
Newcastle United sporting director Paul Mitchell is clearly committed to boosting that pool of talent below the first team by targeting young gems from across the globe.
Cordero is another product of the many markets we have tapped into. Vakhtang Salia has agreed to sign and will join from Dinamo Tbilisi in Georgia on his 18th birthday in August.
Centre-back Miodrag Pivas also came in from Serbia last summer, while Irish winger Kyle Fitzgerald arrived from Galway earlier this year, along with Turkish talent Baran Yildiz.
It’s a long-term plan that is low risk, high reward and we have already seen the potential talents out there ready to be picked and profited from in Yankuba Minteh, who would have been a fine addition to the first team if not for PSR.
A sign of things to come no doubt – not to say every signing will work out of course – but if one young talent can be scooped up on the cheap that develops into a starter, then that’s a victory alone.