Paul Mitchell signing would be 'statement of intent' for Newcastle United as £50m deadline revealed

The 26-year-old scored the winner in Spain’s 2-1 semi-final victory over France to take his tally to three for the tournament. Despite scoring 11 goals in 38 caps for his country, Olmo has never played professionally in Spain having started his senior career at Dinamo Zagreb before moving to Leipzig in 2020.

That transfer was overseen by then Leipzig head of recruitment Paul Mitchell, who has recently been appointed as Newcastle United’s sporting director. But Olmo could be on the move on the move again with Premier League interest from the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City as well as Barcelona in La Liga.

The Spaniard currently has a release clause of £50million in his contract at Leipzig that expires on July 15, the day after the Euro 2024 final. So any club looking to secure Olmo’s signature this summer will have to move quickly in order to trigger the clause and give themselves the best chance of signing the player.

Mitchell’s transfer priority at Newcastle this summer is to sign a top-quality right winger and Olmo, while a speculative target, ticks a lot of boxes in that regard. The 26-year-old played regularly on the right wing for Leipzig but also provides a versatile option across the front three.

Although he has three goals and two assists in three starts at Euro 2024, Olmo’s goal contributions at club level have plenty of room for improvement. During an injury-hit 2023-24 campaign in which he was limited to 20 starts in all competitions, Olmo scored eight goals and registered five assists.

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Before his injuries, Olmo enjoyed an excellent start to the season with five goals and an assist in his first four matches, including a hat-trick against Bayern Munich in the DFL Supercup.

While Newcastle would have their work cut out to land Olmo this summer, his links with Mitchell and quality on the ball would make him a real statement signing for the club’s new sporting director.

The Magpies have already shortlisted the likes of Jarrod Bowen at West Ham United, Anthony Elanga at Nottingham Forest and Leeds United’s Crysencio Summerville as potential right wing targets this summer.