Newcastle and Liverpool 'move ahead' of Arsenal in race for highly-rated defender

Newcastle United and Liverpool have moved ahead of Premier League rivals Arsenal in the race to sign Sporting CP centre-back Goncalo Inacio.

The five-times capped Portugal international has firmly established himself as one of European football’s most consistent defenders since breaking into the Sporting senior setup in October 2020 with a substitute appearance at Portimonense.

Since making his debut in that 2-0 win, Inacio has gone on to make over 150 appearances for the Lisbon giants and helped his side complete a Primeira Liga and Taca da Liga (League Cup) double during the same season before winning the latter competition once again 12 months later.

Still only 22, Inacio has also made 25 appearances in European competition as Sporting competed in the Champions League during his first two seasons in their first-team and have reached the play-off round of the current campaign’s Europa League, where they will meet Swiss side Young Boys next month.

There have been some reports claiming Inacio is being eyed by some of European football’s biggest clubs and Portuguese outlet Record have now named Newcastle and Liverpool as the main clubs looking to hand the defender a chance to impress in the Premier League. However, both clubs will have to be patience after the report also stated Sporting will not consider any sale during the final hours of the January transfer window, meaning any possible deal will have to be negotiated during the summer.

Newcastle’s interest comes as captain Jamaal Lascelles enters the final months of his current deal at St James Park. The former Nottingham Forest defender is believed to be attracting interest from Turkish side Besiktas - although Magpies boss Eddie Howe insisted the centre-back was ‘a huge part’ of his plans in his pre-match press conference ahead of Tuesday’s visit to Aston Villa.

Liverpool’s interest could have been reignited by quotes from Virgil van Dijk seemed to open up on the possibility of leaving Anfield in the wake of Jurgen Klopp’s decision to step down as Reds manager at the end of the season.

Speaking in an interview with The Guardian, he said: “Listen, I don’t know. The club will have a big job on their hands, that is well known. To replace the manager and replace not only the manager, the staff is leaving, and there are so many things that will change. So the club has a big job on its hands and I am very curious which direction that will go in. But when that will be announced we will see our situation, I can’t say now.”