Newcastle leading race for £33m star Guardiola has called a 'great player'

Newcastle United are leading the race to sign Real Madrid’s Rodrygo Goes, according to Spanish outlet Sport.

The Magpies bolstered their ranks significantly in January and pulled themselves out of relegation trouble.

Newcastle are currently nine points clear of the bottom three. While the job isn’t finished, things are on the right track.

The St James’ Park hierarchy will surely be casting an eye onto the summer transfer window already.

And Sport claims Newcastle could soon find themselves signing one of the best young talents in world football.

Rodrygo joined Real Madrid from Santos in 2019 for a reported £40.5million.

Despite his continued promise and incredibly high ceiling, the 21-year-old hasn’t cemented a first-team spot.

Rodrygo has made 16 starts and 19 substitute appearances for Los Blancos this season.

The winger has clocked up 95 appearances for Real – an amazing feat when you consider he’s still just 21.

According to Sport, the Bernabeu hierarchy doesn’t consider Rodrygo part of the indispensable group of players.

And with Real apparently eyeing the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland, this would push him further down the pecking order.

Newcastle have reportedly been monitoring the situation and are willing to pay €40million (around £34million).

Indeed, the Magpies are apparently at the ‘front of the queue’ to sign the £132,000-a-week player.

Rodrygo was linked with Manchester City several years ago.

Although Pep Guardiola played down the rumours, he nonetheless praised the attacking ace.

“No idea,” he told Marca, via Tribal Football, about the speculation. “We will see. He is a great player.”

Newcastle leading race for £33m star Guardiola has called a ‘great player’ – report