da poker： Newcastle United's transfer activity might not be done yet, despite Eddie Howe's declaration that business has been concluded following the signing of talented youngster Lewis Hall from Chelsea.
Who could Newcastle sign?
da bet7k： According to Portuguese outlet Record – via Chronicle Live – the Magpies are closely monitoring the progress of Sporting Lisbon defender Goncalo Inacio alongside Premier League rivals Manchester United.
This follows the 21-year-old's contractual renewal with the Primeira Liga side, who have raised his release clause from €45m (£39m) to €60m (£51m).
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Having signed Sandro Tonali, Harvey Barnes, Tino Livramento and now Hall this summer, it's understandable that the St. James' Park side have depleted their war chest, but they consider the availability of Inacio regardless.
How good is Goncalo Inacio?
The Newcastle ship is oiled, bolstered and ready to emulate last season's success and forge a bid for top-four once again, and having dismantled Aston Villa 5-1 in the Premier League season opener, there is certainly little sign of ring rust.
Howe's system is built on unity and togetherness; the Magpies have risen so emphatically up the divisional ladder after astute transfer work dovetailed with the actual implementation on the pitch.
The defence was one of the meanest around last year, with Newcastle in fact concluding the 2022/23 league term with the Premier League's joint-best defence (alongside champions Manchester City), with such defensive resilience merely a by-product of this immovable cohesion.
Adding Inacio to the ranks could prove to be a masterstroke; the 21-year-old defender is swiftly establishing himself as one of Europe's finest ball-playing centre-halves, having earned an average Sofascore rating of 7.01 in the league last term, completing 90% of his passes, hailed as "immense" and as a "dominator' at the back by analyst Raj Chohan.
In fact, Inacio ranks among the top 2% of central defenders across Men's 'Next Eight' divisions over the past year for assists, the top 1% for shot-creating actions, the top 1% for passes attempted and progressive passes, the top 3% for progressive carries and the top 5% for successful take-ons per 90, as per FBref.
Simply superlative, and an illustration of just why this prodigious talent would be an absolute credit to Howe's burgeoning side, especially given the 46-year-old manager's preference for his players to utilise crisp passing to bide their time and pounce, weaving the ball through the thirds like a controlled, calculated pinball.
Taking such skills into account, Inacio could prove to be the instant answer to Manchester City's £78m acquisition of Croatian central defender Josko Gvardiol, who has been described as a "Rolls-Royce" by journalist Zach Lowy.
Gvardiol, also 21, ranks among the top 9% of centre-backs across Europe's top five leagues for goals, the top 20% for shot-creating actions, the top 1% for passes attempted, the top 18% for progressive passes and the top 6% for successful take-ons per 90.
He has been instrumental for both club and country over the past several years and has played starring roles in both Croatia's third-place finish at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and in the gleaning of successive DFB Pokals with Leipzig.
Inacio looks to be every bit the technical whiz as his positional peer, and if Newcastle do manage to secure his services, be that during the current window, in winter, or even in one year, Howe would wield a defensive force capable of losing the gap on England's most imperious outfit.