Soccer Football - Premier League - Brighton & Hove Albion v Leicester City - The American Express Community Stadium, Brighton, Britain - April 12, 2025 Brighton & Hove Albion's Joao Pedro celebrates scoring their first goal Action Images via Reuters/Peter Cziborra EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO USE WITH UNAUTHORIZED AUDIO, VIDEO, DATA, FIXTURE LISTS, CLUB/LEAGUE LOGOS OR 'LIVE' SERVICES. ONLINE IN-MATCH USE LIMITED TO 120 IMAGES, NO VIDEO EMULATION. NO USE IN BETTING, GAMES OR SINGLE CLUB/LEAGUE/PLAYER PUBLICATIONS. PLEASE CONTACT YOUR ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVE FOR FURTHER DETAILS..
Newcastle United are in the market for attacking reinforcements this summer, but have already had one of their top targets snatched from them in the opening days of the transfer window.
It was widely reported that the Magpies were set to make Brentford star Bryan Mbeumo their marquee signing to bolster their forward line ahead of next season.
However, on Monday, The Athletic’s David Ornstein revealed that the Bees’ attacker has chosen to join Manchester United instead, with further reports of wage demands of £250k-per-week from the Cameroon international.
Whether Newcastle’s interest was concrete or not remains to be seen, but it would be incredibly unlikely that the club would be interested in entertaining that kind of financial commitment, considering their highest-paid player, Bruno Guimaraes, is on around £160k-per-week.
Luckily, it is early days in the summer transfer window, so Newcastle have plenty of time to find an alternative to boost their right winger role ahead of their Champions League campaign next season.
Another role in the squad that the club wants to reinvest in is the striker role, as the future of Callum Wilson remains uncertain with his current contract set to expire in a few weeks.
Indeed, Alexander Isak is the undisputed first choice in the centre forward role at present and will likely remain the leading goal-scorer for years to come, but providing him with competition and a potential partner to boost goal contributions would be massively advantageous.
Sky Sports journalist Rob Dorsett took to the social media platform X to reveal that Newcastle have already turned their attentions elsewhere:
“#nufc interested in #bhafc Joao Pedro, who has admirers in PL and Europe. Big summer for Newcastle – Callum Wilson out of contract, and widespread interest in Alexander Isak – who Nufc don’t want to sell. But Howe wants another striker, departures or not. And Pedro is an option.”
It has been reported that Brighton and Hove Albion would command a fee of around £59m to part ways with their player this summer.
Should Newcastle sign Joao Pedro?
There is no doubt that Pedro has the potential to be a fantastic long-term prospect for the Magpies, but given the investment needed to secure his services, it will be important to weigh up whether he is a priority.
A right winger would be the key position to fill this summer as Jacob Murphy is the only out-and-out right winger in the squad at present, but this also depends on how Eddie Howe intends to play next season.
It was recently reported that the Newcastle boss would be willing to alter his formation to accommodate the potential of playing another starting striker alongside Isak, with Howe already tinkering his tactics several times this season to experiment with the best approach.
Not only that, the North East giants will be adding an elite European competition to their already congested fixture schedule and will want to compete on all fronts to add further silverware to their trophy cabinet.
Pedro doesn’t just offer goal contributions – with ten goals and seven assists tallied this season – he has a wealth of Premier League experience at just 23 years old, and is capable of playing multiple positions.
Over his career so far, the Brazilian talent – hailed “special” by Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler – has earned experience playing as a second striker, left winger and attacking midfielder too, demonstrating incredible diversity that would be warmly welcomed at St James’ Park.
With that being said, it will be interesting to see if Newcastle’s interest in Pedro is concrete and, if they do sign him, how his diverse skill set can influence the attacking threat on Tyneside next season.
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