With the deal for Nico Gonzalez now official, Newcastle United need to turn their attention towards who they want to sign next. Not much time is left in this summer transfer window to get things done.
Matias Fernandez-Pardo of Lille is someone who has been consistently linked with a move to Newcastle United over the past week or so. The latest suggestion was that the Magpies were ready to pay €60 million to sign him.
Lille are believed to be looking for close to €70 million to sanction a move though. That has made things difficult and no agreement has been found yet.
Newcastle United signing Fernandez-Pardo is still not impossible. But two things will need to happen in order to open that transfer door.
Two things that must happen for Newcastle United to sign Matias Fernandez-Pardo
According to the print edition of L’Equipe (via Sport Witness):
‘The move is therefore not a hot topic at this time, but the end of the transfer window can always hold surprises, especially since Newcastle continue to push for Matias Fernandez-Pardo. Lille will only agree to a move under two conditions: finding a suitable replacement within his salary cap and then obtaining a fair transfer fee.’
So, firstly, Lille will need to find a suitable replacement for Fernandez-Pardo. Secondly, they would want a tranfer fee they feel is fair, in order to sanction the Belgian international’s exit.
As a result, it is not all within Newcastle United’s hands either. But this does give them hope that a deal can still be done before the summer transfer window slams shut.
That is better than how things were looking like yesterday. Reports in France had claimed that Newcastle United had decided to move on, having failed to find an agreement to sign Fernandez-Pardo from Lille.
Newcastle’s alternative to Fernandez-Pardo is a former Leicester City man
Now, it looks like that is not the case after all. Although by no means is it a guarantee either that a move will end up happening in this summer transfer window.
Consequently, the club are already being linked with alternative options as well. Moroccan international Bilal El Khannouss of VfB Stuttgart is believed to be one of them.
El Khannouss is a number 10 though, while Fernandez-Pardo has played just as much on the wing as he has as a centre-forward. That raises a few questions about the club’s recruitment plans and clarity of vision on what they want.
Ideally, one would feel that Fernandez-Pardo is their first choice, as Newcastle United have been linked with him for a few weeks now. But El Khannouss does have Premier League experience, having turned out for Leicester City in the past. That gives him a certain advantage.
