OPINION
Newcastle United target Miguel Almiron has returned to training with MLS side Atlanta United and that could spell trouble for the Tyneside club.
The Paraguayan international has been repeatedly linked with a move to St. James’ Park this January, but it is understood that Newcastle will have to approach their American counterparts with an improved offer closer to Atlanta’s valuation of the player if any deal is to be struck, according to the Guardian.
In the meantime, the 24-year-old has returned to the club he was expected to leave this month to begin preparation for preseason.
In a tweet from teammate Eric Remedi, the playmaker is pictured smiling alongside his colleagues in full training kit.
The chase for Almiron is beginning to get very protracted, and as a general rule, the longer these kind of wrangles go on, the less likely they are to be completed.
There is no doubting at this stage that Almiron is Rafa Benitez’s priority target this winter, but the disparity between the two club’s valuation of the player threatens to derail the whole deal entirely.
For his part, Almiron appears keen on the move, and he would be exactly the kind of mercurial talent that the crowd up on Tyneside love to get behind, but with the fragile state of Mike Ashley’s financial backing, and with rumours circulating of other clubs being interested, it would be no surprise if Almiron ended up on the ever growing list of transfer targets that Newcastle allowed to slip through their fingers.
It would be a huge shame if he did, because the Paraguayan is the sort of creative spark that could make the difference in a relegation battle that threatens to go right down to the wire.
