Newcastle ‘ready to shatter transfer record with £50m bid for 31-cap Brazil international Lucas Paqueta from Lyon’
NEWCASTLE UNITED are reportedly ready to smash their transfer record to bring in another Brazilian to the club.
Eddie Howe splashed the cash in January to bolster his then-struggling Toon squad and enjoyed great success in guiding the Magpies away from the drop zone.
Now Newcastle are plotting more additions this summer to continue pushing up the table under their new Saudi owners.
And a fresh report is claiming that they want to make Lyon ace Lucas Paqueta their marquee signing.
The Times is stating that Howe is ready to break the North East side’s transfer record to try and bring the Brazilian international to St. James’ Park.
It says that the club are preparing a move for the 31-cap Samba star.
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Newcastle allegedly want to create an all-Brazilian midfield trio of Paqueta, current £43m record signing Joelinton and Bruno Guimaraes to fire them to the next level.
The 24-year-old shone in LIgue 1 this term and scored nine goals in 35 appearances for Lyon.
Toon chiefs are hopeful that they can get a deal done with the help of Bruno.
The new fan favourite on Tyneside has the same agent as Paqueta.
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And they believe that could help smooth negotiations over a potential transfer for the South American.
Paqueta burst onto the scene as a teenager at boyhood club Flamengo back in his homeland.
But his displays soon caught the eye of Europe’s big guns, and it was AC Milan who won the race to sign him in 2019.
However, he only spent one season at the San Siro and played 37 times before he was heading to France.
Paqueta has scored 18 times in 68 matches for Lyon since his arrival but he has upset some of their supporters over the past fortnight.
He travelled to Newcastle to celebrate the birthday of his pal Bruno’s girlfriend but a photo of him enjoying a kickaround with his compatriot wearing a Toon shirt emerged online – an act which has not gone down well back at his own club.