Newcastle United set to agree first summer transfer as club chief suggests major U-turn

Malaga winger Antinio Cordero is understood to be close to joining Newcastle United having held talks over a pre-contract agreement.

The 18-year-old is out of contract at Malaga in June and would be free to join another club once his current deal expires. Newcastle have since swooped in to engage in talks with the teenager, who visited Tyneside with his family earlier this year.

Portuguese club Porto were linked with a potential hijack of Newcastle’s proposed deal but The Magpies are still understood to be in pole position to complete the free transfer in the summer. But Malaga general manager Kike Perez has warned that the Spanish second tier side could yet agree a new deal with Cordero.

Antonio Cordero 2024-25 stats

Cordero is enjoying a breakthrough season with Malaga, making 30 appearances across all competitions. He has started 17 matches, scoring five goals and contributing with six assists.

He has also been a regular in Spain’s Under-19s side this season with two goals and two assists in six European Under-19s Championship qualifying appearances.

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Newcastle United already have a plan for Antonio Cordero

Newcastle have already agreed a deal that will see Vakhtang Salia join the club from Dinamo Tbilisi when he turns 18 in August. Salia is set to be loaned out by Newcastle for the 2025-26 campaign and the plan for Cordero, should he sign, would be to do the same.

It is the same strategy Newcastle successfully deployed with the signing of Yankuba Minteh from Odense in 2023. On that occasion, Minteh was sent straight to Feyenoord and enjoyed a very successful spell at the Eredivisie side.

Plans to introduce Minteh to the first-team on Tyneside ended when the club were forced to sell him to Brighton and Hove Albion in order to avoid falling foul of the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules and being handed a points deduction.

Signing players like Minteh, Cordero, Salia and co has been labelled an ‘essential’ strategy for Newcastle by sporting director Paul Mitchell.

“Scouting and recruiting emerging talent is an essential part of building a sustainable future, particularly within the current PSR framework, so the market is fiercely competitive,” Mitchell said upon the announcement that they had signed Salia from Dinamo Tbilisi earlier this year.

“We continue to scout extensively, both domestically and overseas, with a view to securing players who can come through our talent pathway and, ideally, become part of the first team in future.”

Malaga not ruling out Antonio Cordero U-turn as Newcastle United move edges closer

While Newcastle close in on a deal for Cordero, Malaga chief Perez is not ruling out a new contract agreement with the winger - though it comes from a place of hope rather than expectation.

“I have hope because, and I’ve always said this, I’m no longer saying this as someone who works at Malaga or as their general director,” Perez told PTV Malaga’s Zona Deporte. “I’m saying this as someone who works in football. Things will happen and, in the end, we’ll see what happens.

“I see it as logical. I don’t think that whether you’re here or not, people give everything until the end. I’m not one to hold things against others. Whoever is here, as long as they give everything they have, there’s nothing to say.”

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