A journalist has revealed that Newcastle United ‘asked’ about the possibility of signing Atletico Madrid defender Felipe just hours before the January transfer window shut.
The Lowdown: Great window
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium managed to bring in a total of five fresh faces in the end, with Matt Targett and Dan Burn following Kieran Trippier, Chris Wood and Bruno Guimaraes through the door on Transfer Deadline Day.
Only time will tell whether their business will be enough to keep them up, but they have certainly given themselves a fighting chance.
The Latest: Felipe ‘asked’ about
As per journalist Antonio Ruiz (via The COPE Supporter), the St. James’ Park faithful ‘asked’ about the potential to sign Felipe only a few hours before the window closed:
“@NUFC has asked about Felipe, if he comes out, the @Atleti would try Lenglet.”
The Verdict: No harm
As the Toon managed to bring in a central defender in Burn anyway, there is not too much worry that they missed out on Felipe.
Yes, he has recently won the La Liga title with Atletico Madrid, and has a lot of experience at playing at the highest level in the UEFA Champions League, but he is 32 years of age now, and so does not have much time left at the top of his game.
Interestingly, he has the same agent as both Guimaraes and another strongly reported Magpies target in Diego Carlos, and so could be one to watch for the summer, perhaps on a short-term deal given his age.
Nonetheless, with Burn signed, at least the Toon have strengthened their centre-back options going into the second half of the season.
In other news, find out which two NUFC players rejected moves away here!