Newcastle United and Leeds United are in the hunt to sign Boca Juniors midfielder Nahitan Nandez, according to Calcio Mercato.
The Italian news outlet claims that Roma and Cagliari are also interested in signing the 23-year-old, who is valued at £17million.
It is understood that Leeds could “easily satisfy” Boca’s asking price for Nandez, even though it remains to be seen whether they will be a Premier League club or a Championship club next season.
OPINION
Nandez seems like a decent player. The 22-times Uruguay international has not played a lot of football for Boca Juniors this season due to injury. He has made just 13 appearances across all competitions for the Argentine giants, scoring two goals in the process, which both came in his last two outings. Nandez is in good form and Newcastle might find themselves in need of new central midfielders in the summer. However £17million seems like a lot of money to pay for someone who has never played outside of South America and is also going to be in the final 12 months of his contract in the summer [transfermarkt]. Benitez might not be in charge of Newcastle past the end of this season, but whoever is in the hotseat at St James’ Park should maybe consider signing players with a bit more Premier League experience, or at least some experience of playing in a top league in Europe. Nandez might be good but it seems like it would be a risky move.
