There’s no denying that Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez was interested in the possibility of bringing defender Ruben Semedo to St James Park this summer from Sporting Lisbon, however, Sport Witness, who quote Correio da Manhã report that a fell through after no official offer came through.
The Magpies were willing to agree in principle to a €14 million deal for Semedo, however, the deal never got going and the player moved to Villareal for the same fee at the end of the window.
After being accused by a former board member for receiving money for overpaid transfers, club president Bruno de Carvalho hit back at these comments, which include details of Semedo’s possible transfer to England.
There was in fact a meeting in which agent Joao Pinheiro and an English agent were present. They said they could bring a proposal from Newcastle of 14 million and, following the meeting, a document was drawn up in which they reported the same confirming the availability of Sporting CP to make the sale for that amount.
But the truth is that the proposal was no more than intentions and never came. And it’s only by ignorance or bad faith that it’s ignored that the athlete transferred for 14 million to Villarreal of Spain, without any interference of the agent João Pinheiro.
Newcastle were linked with the defender throughout the summer and like many other deals that were reported at the time, a lack of transfer funds appeared to be at the heart of their problems.
Semedo, 23, has been injured for most of the La Liga season so far, only managing four appearances for his new side, so it looks like Benitez has dodged a bullet after missing out on the defender.
