Newcastle are €5m away from matching Benfica’s asking price for Andreas Samaris.
According to a report on Sport Witness the Portuguese side are looking for €20m with Newcastle’s interest stalling at €15m.
The 28 year old midfielder has spent three seasons with Benfica after a single season in Greece with Olympiakos Piraeus following his move from Argentina.
Newcastle were first linked with Samaris a month ago but the trail went cold as Rafa Benitez switched his attention to other targets.
Benfica are close to bringing in Santiago Ascacíbar from Estudiantes de La Plata which increases the likelihood of his fellow Argentinian being on the move.
Benitez has gone on record as preferring to buy British but a player with similar Premier League experience would cost north of £25m while Samaris has proved that he can quickly settle after playing in Greece and Portugal.
