Newcastle have made an audacious move for Lazio striker Ciro Immobile, offering the Biancocelesti €55m in a bid to secure him ahead of the competition.
The Magpies are set for a significant financial boost should their takeover, fronted by businesswoman Amanda Staveley and supported by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, go through – although the deal still has some stumbling blocks to overcome.
Having broken story of WTO ruling into Saudi piracy delaying Newcastle deal in May (https://t.co/Cai6UBTxBN) worth stating
— Sean Ingle (@seaningle) June 16, 2020
1) WTO doesn't directly mention Newcastle contrary to what some say today
2) Got so much abuse for warning of delay, esp when consortium briefing otherwise
Nevertheless, Gazzetta dello Sport (via Sport Witness) report Newcastle have already made a €55m bid for Lazio's Immobile, offering the player a five-year deal worth €8m per year.
The report notes the prolific forward is tempted by the offer, not only from a financial perspective, as he's also understood to be intrigued by the project on Tyneside - should the takeover go through.
The Magpies are said to have told Immobile there will be a ‘sumptuous purchase campaign’ (almost certainly not in those words) this summer with ‘important names’ arriving at the club, and he'd be given the task of leading the whole thing.
However, it will be tough for the Tynesiders to lure Immobile away from Lazio.
The 30-year-old has a great relationship with the club, and has rebuilt his reputation in Rome following underwhelming spells at both Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla.
He's scored 27 Serie A goals this season in a Biancocelesti side with serious Scudetto ambitions. With 12 league encounters remaining this term, Immobile needs a further ten goals to break the single-season scoring record set by Gonzalo Higuain in 2015/16.
The prolific forward previously rejected a €60m move to Chinese Super League outfit Dalian Yifang last January, despite the Chinese outfit offering him a €10m salary.
This would suggest he'd need some serious convincing if he was to make the move to the Premier League this summer, but there's no doubting the Newcastle project is an exciting one.
Source : 90min