Newcastle United failed with a £263,000 loan bid for Benfica midfielder Andreas Samaris in January, according to O Jogo.
The Portuguese outlet claims that the Magpies offered the aforementioned six-figure sum to take the 29-year-old on loan from Bruno Lage’s team until the end of the season.
There was an option for Newcastle to sign Samaris on a two year contract at the end of his loan spell, by which point he would be a free agent. Benfica would then have received a percentage of any future sale of the Greek international.
However, the Portuguese giants decided against letting Samaris leave. The player is now waiting for contract negotiations to begin, but none have yet commenced.
OPINION
There was seemingly nothing that Newcastle could have done to get this deal over the line, then. They had submitted a satisfactory offer that would benefit both themselves and Benfica, but the Portuguese club ultimately refused to let Samaris go. That is what it came down to, it’s no failure on Newcastle’s part. The player is now stuck in no man’s land, though, until he receives a contract extension offer. It will be interesting to see whether, if Samaris can’t agree a new deal with Benfica, the Magpies go back in for him in the summer. However, that appears unlikely at this moment in time. Rafael Benitez has a multitude of options in central midfield at the moment, particularly since the emergence of youngster Sean Longstaff. Perhaps they will still go for Samaris if Isaac Hayden leaves, but we’ll have to wait and see how this whole thing plays out.
