Newcastle transfer news: Magpies in the running for 21-year-old striker Gamid Agalarov

The Russian currently plays in the top flight of football in his native country for Ufa and has bagged 18 goals so far this season. Ufa aren’t one of the big teams in the league so the player may not carry a hefty price tag.

This is according to Sport24 who claim that Eddie Howe’s team were actively interested in acquiring Agalarov’s services during the January transfer window.

A bid, however, never came to fruition. But the Magpies are rumoured to be interested yet again.

The striker has many similar qualities to Hugo Ekitike, whom Newcastle have been heavily linked with since January. The Magpies even went as far as making a bid of £25million, rising to £33million which was reportedly accepted.

The deal did not go through in the end as Ekitike and his agent had some reservations about Newcastle’s project. His agent even said that there was no “short or medium-term plan” in place.

“We were not convinced about the sports project and we saw no short or medium-term plan with their approach,” said Ekitike’s agent to French outlet L’Equipe.

“Hugo has achieved great things in just six months but as he is attached to the club, we agreed with the leaders to end the season with Reims.”

Beyond then, Newcastle may still have to look at alternatives, which is where Agalarov could come in.

Agalarov is currently in his first season of top-flight football and is outperforming all pre-season expectations. The 21-year-old is the highest scorer in the league, seven goals ahead of seasoned striker Artem Dzyuba.

There will be some eyebrows raised if Newcastle do sign Agalarov, however, as there is a significant difference between the qualities of the Russian Premier League and the top flight of England.

Ufa president Shamil Gazizov has has