Newcastle United have a few stereotypes to overcome when recruiting players from foreign lands, as well as general perceptions of the Premier League pecking order.
The Magpies discovered last summer that, despite finishing in the bottom half of the league and failing to qualify for Europe, Manchester United still have more pull for foreign players than a cup-winning, Champions League-playing Newcastle side. Money, of course, also played a big part in those transfers we missed out on to the Old Trafford mob.
Additionally, there’s the whole English weather discussion. We can’t offer the sun-soaked beaches of Spain, that’s for sure, and it looks like that may be the latest issue when it comes to attracting Dutch wonderkid, Kees Smit.
Speaking in an interview with Supergaande on Youtube, Newcastle target Kees Smit was asked about his next steps after AZ Alkmaar, naming the European League he has his eyes on ahead of a likely summer transfer.
His answer was not only emphatic – “La Liga” – but highlighted his eagerness to get away from the “cold and rain”. Ominous signs for English clubs and Newcastle?
“La Liga. Playing there would be great.
“I love the sun, I’m tired of playing in so much cold and rain, so I’d like to go and play in Spain.”
“I really enjoyed watching Barça. I grew up watching Iniesta and Messi play, who I consider two of my role models.”
Asked about his decision to stay at AZ Alkmaar until the end of the 2025/26 season, Smit admitted that offers did come his way last year, also touching on reports around his £50m-plus valuation, branded “ridiculous” by some, at the age of 20.
“I had offers (to leave in 2025), but I felt it was best to continue growing here (at AZ Almkaar). To be honest, I never even looked at the figures they were offering.
“And thank goodness for that. Otherwise, I would have started to have doubts. In the end, I’m happy with my decision.”
As reports suggested a few months ago, Newcastle felt that their best shot of landing Smit was to make their move in January before other clubs launched their assault in the summer.
However, messaging from AZ Alkmaar and the player himself was that they were waiting until the end of this campaign before making any decisions.
AZ Alkmaar are very aware of the interest around Smit and know that they can pit many of Europe’s biggest clubs against each other in a bidding war. It was one that Newcastle would likely have been pushed out of thanks to the financial restrictions imposed upon them.
It looks like Newcastle’s hopes of signing Smit are remote at best. Unless there’s some freaky climate shift between now and July, and Tynemouth becomes the Costa Del Toon!