Newcastle United and Man Utd warned over move for £35m La Liga wonderkid

Newcastle United have been warned they face a battle to sign highly-rated youngster Gabri Veiga after reportedly sending scouts to watch the Celta Vigo star in action.

The versatile Spain Under-21 international broke through the La Liga club’s academy system and made his senior debut as a substitute in a 2-1 home win against Valencia in September 2020. After showing plenty of promise, Veiga has really caught the eye this season after scoring eight goals and providing three assists in 23 league games, finding the net against the likes of Atletico Madrid, Real Betis and Sevilla.

La Liga pundit Terry Gibson can only see the young talent improving over the coming years and he believes the Galician club may face a challenge to hold on to one of their brightest prospects as some of Europe’s biggest names continue to show an interest.

The former Wimbledon and Manchester United forward said: “Gabri Veiga is obviously a talent that’s getting better and better. He is going to be hard for Celta to keep. I think there is a big enough buy-out clause to stop other Spanish clubs buying him. But not other clubs in other places in Europe, notably the Premier League.”

That buy-out clause is believed to have been set at around £35m, a fee that would only be with the range of La Lisa’s biggest clubs. However, interest in Veiga is said to come from outside of Spain with Newcastle, Manchester United and Arsenal all reportedly monitoring his progress.

Spanish outlet AS mentioned the Premier League trio as possible destinations for the youngster last month - although there are more recent reports from El Desmarque suggesting the latter of that trio is no longer in the running.

Speaking about the youngster’s future in the article, Celta vice-president Ricardo Barros said: “You already know that Celta is a quarry team, it is a youth player, with which we are very proud. (He) is a boy who already pointed out ways and I think he will have a very important future. He is a Celta player and has a contract with Celta. Logically, good players (meaning big clubs) always come to see them.”