---
title: "Newcastle United: PIF ‘set their sights’ on William Carvalho"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/arsenal-transfer-news-carvalho-leicester-real-betis/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Adam Clancy"
section: "Newcastle United News"
published: "2022-11-18T19:45:49Z"
modified: "2022-11-18T19:45:49Z"
---

# Newcastle United: PIF ‘set their sights’ on William Carvalho

**The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s (KSA) Public Investment Fund (PIF) have now ‘set their sights’ on signing Real Betis’ William Carvalho for [Newcastle United](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/newcastle-united-news/).**

### The Lowdown: Going to the World Cup…

The Toon Army will be able to catch a glimpse of their potential new signing in Qatar as Carvalho was named in the [Portugal squad](https://twitter.com/goal/status/1590865137409425413) for the [FIFA World Cup](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/world-cup-2022/).

The defensive midfielder played the [full 90 minutes](https://www.sofascore.com/nigeria-portugal/eUbsKVb) as his team thrashed Nigeria 4-0 in a warm-up game on Thursday, and he has amassed no fewer than [76](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/william-carvalho/nationalmannschaft/spieler/100131) senior caps for his country.

### The Latest: Newcastle interested in Carvalho

As per [Spanish sources](https://www.fichajes.net/noticias/carvalho-llave-desbloquea-economia-betis-20221118.html) on Friday, Newcastle have now ‘set their sights’ on signing Carvalho in the January transfer window, but they will face competition from [Premier League](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/premier-league-news/) rivals Arsenal and Leicester City, along with Turkish giants Fenerbahce, for his signature.

Betis could be willing to sell themidfielder in January in order to free up funds to bolster their squad for another push in Europe, having finished [top](https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/standings/) of their Europa League group.

[Newcastle news!](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/newcastle-news-7/)

### The Verdict: Another squad option

Carvalho would offer Eddie Howe another quality option in his squad, given the [lack](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/newcastle-united/startseite/verein/762) of natural defensive midfielders that the Newcastle manager currently has at his disposal.

Hailed as ‘[absurd](https://www.unitedinfocus.com/news/bruno-fernandes-praises-absurd-portugal-teammate-william-carvalho/)‘ by Portugal team-mate Bruno Fernandes, the 30-year-old ranks in the 94th percentile for progressive passes and dribbles completed out of his positional peers in Europe’s top five leagues over the last year, and in the 89th percentile for passes attempted on the pitch ([FBRef](https://fbref.com/en/players/dee86451/William-Carvalho)).

\[freshpress-quiz id=”415486″\]

Carvalho’s superior ability on the ball makes the [6 foot 2](https://www.sofascore.com/player/william-carvalho/137978) colossus a more modern-type defensive midfielder, and he could be the ideal profile of player to take the Magpies to the next level.