'Manchester City will proceed': Fabrizio Romano has some bad news for Newcastle just before Leeds kick off

By Lee Connor

Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that Manchester City will be winning the race for Maximo Perrone, in a blow to Newcastle United.

The Toon had been tracking Perrone themselves and were looking into signing the Velez Sarsfield star in January.

However, City’s interest has also emerged in recent days and it seems that the lure of Manchester and Pep Guardiola will see Perrone arrive at The Etihad.

Confirming the news on his Twitter account just now, Fabrizio Romano has said that City will be proceeding with paying the £8m release clause for Perrone. It comes just 15 minutes before Newcastle are due to take on Leeds United in Premier League action.

Eddie Howe, of course, won’t be aware and won’t allow something like this to distract him at all. Newcastle are going to find this happens a lot given the calibre of player they want to sign now. City, as we all know, have the money and the lure to attract most players in world football.

Perrone, 19, is seen as one of the top emerging talents in Argentina. City, then, appear to have got their finger on the pulse when it comes to the South American market.

TBR’s View: Newcastle will just move on from Perrone

As soon as a team like City gets involved then it’s always going to be tough for teams like Newcastle to get deals over the line.

City spend big and give out big contracts, while the lure of Guardiola and guaranteed Champions League football also goes a long way. Further, to South American players, they look at City and see how successful others from the region have been under Guardiola.

For Newcastle, this is a case of simply just moving forwards and going for other players. Perrone is a talent, but on this occasion, it looks like the Toon have just missed out.