Newcastle United had a €13m (£11.5m) bid rejected for Matheus Nunes in the January transfer window, according to Record (via Sport Witness).

As per the news outlet, Sporting Lisbon decided to turn down the offer because they did not want to weaken their squad and they believe that his price could grow over time.

Nunes currently has a release clause of €60m (£52.9m), which would be the St. James' Park faithful's record transfer fee paid for a player if they were looking to potentially activate it in the summer.

Nunes could have been a good signing for Newcastle

If the Tyneside club were to be able to get the deal over the line at the time, then Nunes may well have turned out to be a very good signing for Steve Bruce's team.

The central midfield player wins no fewer than 4.4 of his duels on average a game in the Portuguese top flight, and has also averaged 1.5 successful dribbles per match so far in the 2020/21 term (Sofascore).

With his 6 ft frame, he looks to have the stature to be able to cope with the physical demands of the Premier League as well.

However, after the arrival of Joe Willock from Arsenal on Deadline Day on loan for the rest of the season, it remains to be seen as to whether the Magpies will go back in for Nunes in the summer, and if they do, there is no guarantee that they'd get him as the 22-year-old may be more in-demand by then.

In other news, find out whose display was slammed versus Crystal Palace here!