Newcastle ready to splash the cash in January to boost survival bid as they ‘step up pursuit of in-demand Fiorentina and Serbia striker Dusan Vlahovic’
- Fiorentina striker Dusan Vlahovic scored twice as his side beat AC Milan
- The 21-year-old took his tally to 10 Serie A goals in just 13 appearances this term
- Newcastle reportedly scouted him in Serbia’s win against Portugal last week
- Manchester City and Tottenham are also reported admirers of Vlahovic
Newcastle are ready to step up their pursuit of Fiorentina striker Dusan Vlahovic when the January transfer window opens, according to reports.
The 21-year-old scored twice in Fiorentina’s 4-3 victory against AC Milan on Saturday, taking his tally to 10 goals in just 13 Serie A appearances this season.
The Serbia international has scored 27 goals in 37 Serie A games with Fiorentina in 2021, a league tally only bettered by Bayern Munich star Robert Lewandowski (38) in Europe’s top five divisions this calendar year.
Newcastle are reportedly ready to step up their pursuit of Fiorentina striker Dusan Vlahovic
The 21-year-old has scored 10 goals in 13 games this season and 27 in 37 matches in 2021
But The Sun claim Vlahovic could be sold by Fiorentina in January, and that the Magpies are in the hunt for him after the club’s scouts watched him in action as his country qualified for the World Cup with victory against Portugal in Lisbon.
The Italian outfit are expected to demand a hefty fee for the ex-Partizan Belgrade striker but the report adds claims of a fee as high as £70million are wide of the mark.
Such a fee however would not pose a problem to Newcastle however following the £350m takeover of the club by a Saudi-led consortium last month.
Premier League champions Manchester City and north London outfit Tottenham are also reported admirers of Vlahovic, but Newcastle’s need to recruit a striker is more pressing after they dropped to the bottom of the table.
Eddie Howe’s Newcastle are reportedly in the hunt for Vlahovic following the club’s takeover
Eddie Howe’s era as boss began with a 3-3 draw against Brentford on Saturday, but it was not enough to prevent them from being overtaken by Norwich, who beat Southampton in their first league win this term.
Newcastle will also hunt for two full-backs, a centre-back, a midfielder and a striker when the window opens in just over a month’s time.
Sportsmail understands Tottenham midfielder Harry Winks is a key target, with Howe keen to fix the lack of creativity in his side.
Co-owner Amanda Staveley last month insisted there will be ‘heavy investment’ in the squad.
The Sun claim the Magpies sent scouts to watch Vlahovic play for Serbia against Portugal
‘We’ll need to stick to the rules of the Financial Fair Play rules. We will invest as much as we can I think everybody knows that,’ she said.
‘But we won’t just invest in footballers, budgets, transfers – it’ll be across the board, everything. We want to make sure we invest at all levels.
‘We have to look at the numbers and there are rules and regulations as we talked about, we have to make sure the revenue is coming in, the Premier League has rules on how we invest.’
Magpies co-owner Amanda Staveley promised ‘heavy investment’ at the club in January