OPINION
Newcastle will surely veer away from their reported interest in Porto coach Sergio Conceicao after the latest report from Portuguese outlet O Jogo.
A previous report [Sky Sports News] claimed that Conceicao is interested by the prospect of a move to Tyneside, but O Jogo now say that in order to prise the 44-year-old away from the Estadio de Dragao, clubs will have to pay £17.8million in compensation.
That’s reportedly because the fee – in effect a release clause – was inserted into the contract extension that Conceicao signed in March, and that is due to last until 2021.
That is a decent amount of money for most clubs, but can be considered an astronomical fee for Newcastle, who are surely the last team who would think of paying such a fee to get a new manager in.
Given how Mike Ashley runs the club – with tight financial restrictions on all areas – there is no way he would pay £17.8million to get a new manager in unless he is desperate enough, which is unlikely to happen.
Heck, £17.8million is close to the £20million which represents the club-record fee the club paid to bring Miguel Almiron into the club from Atlanta in January [Source: BBC].
What’s more, it is unlikely Conceicao would try and force a move out of Porto, despite him reportedly being interested. He has got Porto to the last 16 and the quarter-finals of the Champions League in both the last two seasons, while also guiding the club to the Portuguese league title in the 2017/18 campaign.
So there is plenty of reason for him to stay, as he is enjoying some brilliant successes with his side.
And the fact is, there are plenty of other options out there who would cost much less. Take Garry Monk, for example. He is currently out of work having been sacked by Birmingham City earlier this month, and the reality is he would cost nothing to bring in since he is a free agent.
That sort of investment would present a much better and – let’s face it – much more realistic option for Newcastle, but only time will tell who gets the post.
If the latest report from O Jogo is true, Newcastle should cross him off their shortlist of candidates.
