Newcastle United dealt double blow in race for Manchester United and Bayern Munich transfer target

Newcastle United have reportedly been ruled out of the race to sign Benfica’s highly-rated forward Goncalo Ramos.

The 21-year-old has made an impressive start to the season and earned his maiden call-up to the Portugal squad last week.

He will hope to receive a first senior cap when Fernando Santos’ squad face a Nations League double-header against the Czech Republic and Spain over the coming days.

Ramos - who has scored eight goals and providing five assists in 12 appearances for Benfica this season - will prepare for a potentially life-changing week with speculation over his future continuing to dominate the headlines in Portugal and England.

Newcastle were reportedly interested in signing the £30million-rated frontman during the summer transfer window before making a successful move for Real Sociedad star Alexander Isak.

Wolverhampton Wanderers were also linked with Ramos, who worked under Bruno Lage earlier in this career.

The Wolves boss spoke of the forward’s progress last month, saying: “I’ve seen him play as an offensive midfielder, I’ve seen him as a striker, the way he plays - and I’m so happy for the way he’s started this season.

“Who doesn’t want to have these kind of players? But the most important thing is that we have our profile and we don’t just have one target, we have more targets for that position.”

The Magpies are believed to be monitoring Ramos’ progress with the Portuguese giants - but will now face competition from some of Europe’s biggest clubs if they choose to make a move for the forward.

Portuguese daily A Bola has reported Manchester United and Bayern Munich are ‘keeping an eye’ on Ramos ahead of the January transfer window and named Paris Saint-Germain as another possible suitor.

In a further blow to Newcastle’s hopes of landing the forward, the report suggests that the price placed on his head with increase after his international call-up and that Ramos is ‘already reaching an inaccessible level’ to clubs in the middle of their domestic league.

That comment seems to aimed at Newcastle, with the reporting stating Ramos will head to ‘a big name of a large league’.