Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez is not 100% convinced about the potential signing of Hoffenheim attacker Joelinton, according to The Chronicle journalist Lee Ryder.
Ryder claims that he has been keeping a very close eye on the situation with the Brazilian, because he believes that Newcastle as a club are keen to sign him.
However, he feels that Benitez, despite believing that the 22-year-old is a decent player, is more of the mind that the money used to bring him in could be better used. He feels that it could be grouped into a few different signings instead.
Ryder’s co-worker Chris Waugh revealed in a Chronicle Q & A recently [26/05; 12:29] that Magpies bosses are prepared to pay up to £40million to secure the Hoffenheim star’s signature.
OPINION
This is an interesting clash of viewpoints between Newcastle as a club and Benitez himself, and is probably indicative of the problems the two parties have had all along. The Spaniard has one view on what is needed for his team, while the Magpies have their own agenda in terms of signings. Joelinton is a player whose name has been linked with the north east giants for some time now. There is obviously something in it and, as Ryder says, the club itself are keen to bring him in. However, Benitez isn’t so sure. It’s hard to blame him, to be honest. £40million is a lot of money to spend on one player and, he’s right, it could be used to plug a number of holes instead. He’s obviously not seen anything from the Brazilian that makes him think ‘wow, I’ve got to have him’. So for him, he’d probably rather shore up his squad than splash out big money on a player he’s not 100% convinced by.
