Newcastle United ‘closing in’ on January signing as director makes Tyneside visit

Newcastle United are reportedly closing in on the signing of Velez Sarsfield midfielder Maximo Perrone. The 19-year-old is an Argentina U20 international and is being tipped for a bright future in the game.

According to Vélez a Fondo, Velez Sarsfield club director Christian Bassedas, who had a spell as a player at St. James’ Park, recently travelled over to England to work on the deal.

Perrone is out of contract in December 2023 meaning his current club risk losing him for free next year unless they can pick up a fee for him in January or next summer, assuming he doesn’t put pen-to-paper on a new deal at José Amalfitani Stadium.

He has been on the books of the Primera Division side for his whole career to date. He rose up through the academy of the Argentinian outfit and was a regular for them at various youth levels over the past few years.

They handed him his first-team debut in March of this year against Estudiantes de La Plata and he hasn’t looked back since. He has now made 33 appearances in all competitions and has chipped in with three goals and two assists.

Newcastle could see Perrone as one for the future and he would bolster Eddie Howe’s options in the middle of the park over the next few years. Velez Sarsfield have produced some useful players over recent times such as Thiago Almada at Atlanta United, Lucas Robertone at Almeria and Mathias Vargas at Shanghai Port.