Newcastle United studying ‘best strategy’ for £25m transfer

Newcastle’s struggles with squad depth have emphasised the need for a third striker option and one attacker that is believed to have caught the eye of the recruitment team is Brazilian starlet Marcos Leonardo. The Santos attacker has been on Newcastle’s radar for a number of months according to Brazilian outlet UOL, who claim that the Magpies have already made contact with the player over a move.

Newcastle are said to be studying the ‘best strategy’ to get Marcos Leonardo on board, and Santos are believed to be aware of the approach. UOL adds that it is the Brazilian club’s ‘dream’ of making between £20m and £25m with the sale next year.

Leonardo is regarded as one of the biggest talents in Brazil and is hoping to follow a long line of successful alumni from the Santos academy including Pele, Neymar and Rodrygo. The attacker broke into the Santos first team when he was just 17 years old and progressed to become the club’s main striker during the 2022 season when he scored 13 goals in 35 league matches.

Leonardo attracted attention from Italian rivals Roma and Lazio, but Santos were keen to keep the player at the time after the departures of fellow academy graduates Deivid Washington and Ângelo Gabriel who both moved to Chelsea.

Leonardo has enjoyed another successful campaign for Santos this season, despite the club’s struggles in the league and he is the second top scorer in the division with 13 goals in 24 appearances.

The Brazilian’s form at club level has garnered international recognition and he boasts an incredible record of 15 goals in 13 games at U20 level - while also winning the Silver Boot at the U20 World Cup with five goals in five games at the tournament.

A move for the player would undoubtedly add squad depth to a Newcastle team that have lacked a third striker since the absence of Chris Wood and would showcase Eddie Howe’s desire to invest in the club’s long term future.

Leonardo has a great reputation and BBC’s South American Football analyst Tim Vickery has even compared some of the players attributes to that of Sergio Aguero, according to Khel Now.