Bid made: Newcastle moving for 12 G/A winger with shades of Luis Diaz, talks ongoing

Newcastle United have seen an opening offer for Porto’s Pepe rejected, according to ge.globo. 

Pepe has only spent one season in Europe so far, having moved from Gremio to Porto just last summer in a £13.5million deal.

The 25-year-old made 42 appearances for Sergio Conceicao’s side, scoring six goals and providing as many assists.

Predominantly a left winger, he’s also capable of playing on the right side, even featuring as a right-back on five occasions.

ge.globo ‘found out’ that Newcastle have submitted a €35million (£30.2million) bid for Pepe, but it falls some way short of Porto’s asking price. They want as much as €60million (£51.8million) to let him leave the Estadio do Dragao.

Despite the gulf, Newcastle haven’t walked away, and negotiations are ongoing.

Pepe has a release clause of €70million (£60.5million) in his contract, which runs until June 2026.

Porto would ideally like to keep him longer and drum up his value, but they’re not ruling out a sale this year.

Luis Diaz had bagged 14 Primeira Liga goals in 18 appearances before he moved from Porto to Liverpool in January, and that deal was worth around £50million too.

Pepe’s involvement actually increased significantly following Diaz’s departure, and journalist Zach Lowy reckons he ‘has everything it takes‘ to replace the Colombian long-term.

So his numbers would probably have been more impressive had he been first-choice for the whole season, and if Newcastle can talk Porto down to a more reasonable fee, then you could make the case that it’s decent business.

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