Fabrizio Romano reveals £51m Newcastle United transfer target

Newcastle United fans are bracing themselves for their long awaited return to Europe’s elite competition as they take on AC Milan in their Champions League opener.

The upcoming fixture sees Newcastle return to a venue where they played their last Champions League away game back in 2003 when they drew 2-2 with Inter Milan at the San Siro.

Eddie Howe’s side are optimistic that they can prevail from the group of death, but they already have their eyes on further recruits in January so that they can continue to dine at Europe’s elite table.

The Magpies have strengthened their midfield options with the marquee signing of Sandro Tonali, who provides further competition to the central area, which also features Bruno Guimaraes, Joe Willock, Joelinton, Elliot Anderson and Sean Longstaff.

Yet despite this strength in depth it appears that midfield could once again be a priority that Newcastle move for in January, according to Italian football journalist Fabrizio Romano.

Newcastle have long been admirers of Brazil international Lucas Paqueta and they were heavily linked with a move for the player in the 2022 summer window before his £51m arrival at West Ham.

The Hammers star is a close friend of international team mate Guimaraes and the pair even played together at Lyon during the 2020/21 season as the team finished 4th in Ligue 1.

Paqueta enjoyed a solid first season with West Ham which saw him register four goals and three assists in 28 league appearances.

Paqueta was also heavily praised for his contributions in Europe last term and was named in the Team of the Tournament for the Europa Conference League as West ham lifted their first major honour in 43 years.

The midfielder’s performances attracted the attention of Manchester City who were linked with a blockbuster £80m move for the player but that move eventually broke down to alleged betting breaches.

Sky Sports reported that the FA investigation is centred on three yellow cards he was shown in Premier League games last season, but the bets were not placed by Paqueta and he denies any wrongdoing.

But Manchester City were not the only club monitoring the player’s ability and Romano has confirmed that Newcastle were also keeping tabs on the player.

Romano told CaughtOffside: “Another deal that nearly happened this summer was Lucas Paqueta, who was targeted by Manchester City. Of course clubs are now waiting to see the end of the investigation story.

"Newcastle were also interested back in May, but then they never sent proposals as their focus was on Sandro Tonali. Manchester City always appreciated Paqueta but they invested money on Matheus Nunes, big money; so at the moment they’re not planning for that move in January.”