Report: Nickson travelled to Brazil to scout attacking talent who’s ‘like Neymar’, Newcastle still keen

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Newcastle United enjoyed a fruitful summer transfer window, bringing in four signings and breaking their transfer record.

The Magpies landed Sven Botman, Matt Targett and Nick Pope early on, before landing the incredibly exciting Alexander Isak.

Newcastle were incredibly busy during the summer, with The Athletic publishing a piece about how they fared in the transfer window.

In July, the Magpies were reportedly eyeing Harvey Barnes, Benjamin Sesko, Porto’s Pepe, Goncalo Ramos, Carney Chukwuemeka and Maxwel Cornet.

The Athletic reported that Newcastle head of recruitment Steve Nickson even travelled to Brazil to watch a talented young forward in action.

Crucially, the Magpies remain interested in this player, suggesting they could try for him next year.

‘Interestingly, Nickson even travelled to Brazil to watch Santos’ 2-1 loss to Flamengo in July to track Angelo Gabriel, a versatile 17-year-old forward, who Newcastle continue to monitor,’ wrote The Athletic.

Who is Angelo Gabriel? Newcastle target factfile

Santos have produced many world-class talents over the years, including Pele, Neymar, Rodrygo and Kaio Jorge.

And Angelo could well be next in line.

The 17-year-old having made his debut for Santos at a younger age than the aforementioned players.

He has already made a staggering 85 senior appearances for the club.

Scouting website Breaking the Lines published an in-depth analysis of Angelo just last month.

‘Angelo is a left-footed winger who plays on the right-hand side,’ they wrote.

‘From here, he will like to cut inside onto his left and make an impact on his team.

‘He possesses great dribbling skills as indicated above and likes to take his man on.

‘He also likes to provide and creates chances for his team.

‘However, the one thing noticed is that Angelo currently lacks that strong finish which I am sure he will develop over time.

‘If at this stage we can give a slight comparison, I would say he plays like Rodrygo, in terms of his movement on and off the ball.

‘There is no doubt that there is something special about Angelo.

‘He has all the attributes to become a star and follow in the footsteps of some of the other talents that have gone on to bigger things after moving from Santos.’

And Betinho, Angelo’s former teacher and first coach, told Correio Brasiliense, via Goal.com: “He is like Neymar in terms of his dribbling at speed and his change of direction.”