Newcastle United ‘lead race’ for £54m Tottenham Hotspur ‘target’
Declan Rice’s masterclass at St James’s Park on Saturday has reinforced the belief that Newcastle need to recruit a central midfielder in the summer.
One of Newcastle United’s main priorities in the summer transfer market is signing a defensively-minded central midfielder. Their ideal player would likely be someone in a similar mould to Rice and securing someone for this role could be a major step forward in the evolution of Eddie Howe’s team.
Rice himself has been linked with a move to Tyneside, as has fellow Three Lion Jude Bellingham, however, both will likely move to more established clubs when the transfer window reopens, rather than join the project at Newcastle United at the present moment. With these superstars likely to be out of the question just now, Newcastle have supposedly turned their attention towards Sporting Lisbon midfielder Manuel Ugarte.
According to reports in Portugal, Newcastle lead the chase for the Uruguayan, but the club would have to trigger his £54million release clause in order to land his signature. Ugarte is very highly-regarded at Sporting and the club are eyeing a move to extend his contract with the club past its 2025 expiry.
They also hope to increase the 21-year-old’s release clause to over £70million amid interest from the Magpies. Tottenham Hotspur have also been linked with a move for the midfielder that has been capped six times by his country.
Ugarte started his career in his native Uruguay and moved to Europe in January 2021, joining FC Famalicao for a fee believed to be around £3.5million. He spent just half a season there before securing a move to Sporting Lisbon for around £6million.