Newcastle United are allegedly trailing Manchester United for Real Valladolid defender Mohammed Salisu.
The 20-year-old has been attracting the interest from these shores according to a report from AS (via Sport Witness), and they state that the Red Devils ‘have asked’ about the player.
Unfortunately for Newcastle though, they are joined by some massive clubs. Not only are Ole Gunnar Solkjaer’s side wanting him, but Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Valencia are all allegedly sniffing around the Ghanian centre-back. We all know there are plenty of Magpies supporters who still claim that they are a ‘big’ club, but surely even they know that they do not match the size of the other clubs reported to be keen.
One positive – or possibly a negative depending on which way you look at it – is that he has a release clause of just €12m, per the report. This means that he is obviously very affordable to any of the interested clubs.
Would Salisu be a good signing?
Yes
No
Unsure
This could work against the club, though, as it means that he is a very low-risk signing for a giant such as Real Madrid, which could lead to a bigger club taking a punt on him.
According to stats from WhoScored, the player is having a really good season for his age and they go a long way to explaining why the club are interested in him.
Firstly, he averages 5.2 clearances per game – far more than anyone else in the squad – and he also produces more blocks than any of his teammates with 0.8 per game. Furthermore, he has the lowest amount of dribbles past him per game for any defender within their team with just 0.5, so his defensive stats are there for all to see.
This has the potential to be a great signing for years to come if they could pull off this deal, but ultimately it will come down to whether they can convince him over the other sides. Perhaps a promise of first-team football is their best bet, but even then it looks a struggle.