Newcastle step up £70m chase for in-demand Fiorentina striker Dusan Vlahovic with spies watching him in Serbia action

Posted Sunday, November 21, 2021 by Thesun.co.uk

NEWCASTLE will step up their interest in Serbia striker Dusan Vlahovic.

As SunSport previously revealed, they'll be in the hunt when Fiorentina start an auction.

Fiorentina striker Dusan Vlahovic is a target for a host of Premier League clubs in 2022, including Newcastle

Toon's top spies watched the hitman in action as his country qualified for the World Cup by beating Portugal.

Vlahovic, 21, could be sold in January if the price is right.

The fee will be large but reports of £70million are over the top, according to those near the deal.

And as Newcastle will find it hard to land talent from Prem rivals, they are on extra alert for players abroad.

Manchester City and Tottenham are admirers of Vlahovic but do not have a desperate need to buy in the next window, while survival fighters Newcastle do.

Toon are still on the lookout for a new director of football, with Frank McPartland likely to stay as an adviser to co-owner Amanda Staveley.

The club are deciding between whether to go for someone with a football or an administrative background.

Boss Eddie Howe will have the final say on signings despite the behind-the-scenes changes.

He is looking for Premier League experience if he can manage to bring it in.

Newcastle want two full-backs, a centre-half, a midfielder and a striker — but know they will be asked premium prices wherever they go.

Staveley last month vowed that there will be 'heavy investment' at St James' Park.

She remarked: "We're going to invest, heavily, obviously. But we have to do it within the confines of the rules of the Premier League.

"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.

"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."