On Friday, we covered a string of links between Newcastle United and Vangelis Pavlidis. Now it seems the Portuguese press isn’t exactly sold on the idea of Newcastle United going after the Benfica striker.
On CNN Portugal, pundit Sofia Oliveira summed it up neatly: if the Magpies were here for FC Porto’s Samu, fine. Pavlidis? Not really. “A trip to Portuguese football to buy Samu would not be strange,” she said. “But coming here to buy Pavlidis sounds strange to me.”
She linked that view to Eddie Howe’s style of play and the type of striker they might want to replace. As Isak is somewhat a more complete forward, Oliveira argued Pavlidis “doesn’t have some of the characteristics” that bring him close to that role.
Following that report, another Portuguese outlet, Record, pointed out that Benfica have no plans to sell. The 26-year-old is tied down until 2029, has a €100m release clause, and just hit 30 goals in his debut season – including a Champions League hat-trick against Barcelona.
Newcastle have scouted him in Nice, but with eyebrows already raised in Lisbon and the price set sky-high, this one feels like a long shot.