by ‘Pretty lumpy!’: Eddie Howe admits Argentina’s World Cup star Enzo Fernandez’s price tag will be sky high after Alan Shearer joked Newcastle should sign him… before hinting he may be dangerous to sign players at the back of good isolated tournaments
Eddie Howe says Newcastle would not use the World Cup in isolation as a means of recruitment – and admits the asking price for young player of the tournament Enzo Fernandez will now be “quite lumpy”.
Club legend Alan Shearer joked after Sunday’s final, in which Fernandez and Argentina triumphed on penalties, that the midfielder would look great in black and white against Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday .
The 21-year-old has been linked with a move to Liverpool in recent weeks and reports from Portugal suggest Benfica have set an asking price of £100m.
Argentinian star Enzo Fernandez has been named Young Player of the Tournament in Qatar
Eddie Howe has insisted the Benfica star’s price tag valued at £100million will now be ‘pretty lumpy’
Newcastle are looking for a starting midfielder – and Fernandez fits the bill – but Howe said: “I know him and I know him.” But I think the transfer fee could be quite lumpy.
Of Shearer’s comments, the head coach added: “I didn’t hear that, I apologize to Alan, I think I was on the other channel!” My bad.
Howe held a transfer meeting with club owners and sporting director Dan Ashworth during their recent mid-season break in Saudi Arabia. While the Magpies are not expected to be as active as the previous two windows, in which spending topped £200m, Howe continues to push to strengthen his squad.
However, he insists signing players after a good World Cup can be a dangerous pursuit.
Shearer had joked on the BBC that Newcastle should make a move for the Argentine star
Howe also hinted that it can be dangerous to sign players purely out of their World Cup performances
“From a recruiting perspective, I don’t think you just analyze the World Cup and sign a player as a result of those performances,” he said. “There’s a huge amount of work to be done to sign these players and it’s never right after four weeks.
“That doesn’t mean we won’t use the World Cup as a recruiting tool and we won’t look at players. But just on those games, we wouldn’t do that.
Meanwhile, Howe gave an update on the fitness of forwards Callum Wilson and Alexander Isak.
“We’re still in the same situation with Alex,” he said, with the £60m frontman recovering from a thigh injury. “We are evaluating him day by day and want to make sure that when he returns he will come back in the best possible condition. With Callum, I never said there was a problem with him. So yes, he is fine.
