Newcastle United are said to have lost ground in the race to sign Club Brugge striker Wesley Moraes, according to The Chronicle.
The newspaper claims that the uncertainty over the Magpies’ mooted takeover by the Bin Zayed Group means that Wesley’s representatives have now moved forward with a different situation.
It is thought that the Brazilian is someone the club have scouted extensively, with a source telling the Chronicle that manager Rafael Benitez has made personal contact with the player.
It was thought that a switch to the Premier League was the 22-year-old’s preference over a Serie A move, however Lazio are now thought to be in pole position to sign him.
OPINION
It’s simply impossible for Newcastle to truly proceed with their transfer business when they don’t know who the manager or even the owner will be once the new season starts. There is so much uncertainty around St James’ Park at the moment and so they simply can’t get anything done in terms of recruitment. It’s no surprise, then, to see them lose ground on Italian giants Lazio in the race for a hugely talented young player in Wesley. He’s been a regular scorer for Brugges for some time now and is still just 22 years of age. It’s safe to assume that Benitez would improve him greatly were he to make the move to Tyneside. That’s still a possibility, of course, but you sense that the likelihood of it happening is decreasing by the day. Lazio are a stable Serie A side with a fantastic manager themselves in Simone Inzaghi. The lure of working with Benitez was thought to trump that for Wesley, but as he doesn’t know that he would be working with the Spaniard, it appears his representatives have moved onto something else.
