Newcastle United transfer ‘very close’ after family visit and Real Madrid ‘interest’

Cordero has been linked with a move to St James’ Park for a while now, with Newcastle United having reportedly beaten off interest from Real Madrid and Barcelona to sign the promising Malaga forward. Cordero, who turned 18 in November, is out of contract at the end of the season and would be available for the Magpies to sign on a pre-contract agreement - one that would see him move to Tyneside when his deal in Spain expires.

According to Craig Hope of the Daily Mail, that outcome is now ‘very close’ with the teenager’s family having visited Tyneside in recent times. Once a move for Cordero is completed, he will likely be sent back out on-loan to develop away from the club in a similar strategy to the one they deployed when they signed Yankuba Minteh in 2023.

On that occasion, Minteh was sent straight to Feyenoord after signing from Odense Boldklub, upon which he enjoyed a very successful spell at the Eredivisie side. Plans to introduce Minteh to the first-team on Tyneside were dismantled 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, Vakhtang Salia and co will help the Magpies stay ahead of PSR and hopefully allow them to develop players for their first-team in future seasons. It is a strategy that new sporting director Paul Mitchell believes is ‘essential’ for Newcastle United to proceed with.

“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.”

Cordero, meanwhile, has had his future at Malaga up in the air for some time now, with the 18-year-old’s contract at Estadio La Rosaleda expiring at the end of the season. As quoted by La Opinion Malaga in September, Malaga’s sporting director Loren Juarros revealed that the club were in talks over a new deal for the teenager, one that has yet to be signed: "I don't talk about Cordero,” Juarros said, “I'm never going to talk about players and situations when there are negotiations.

“I work to bring all these situations to a successful conclusion, but what I think I have to keep to myself so that it doesn't interfere with everything else. It's not good for things to be broadcast.

“I talk to the lads every day, if I have to talk about something I tell them or their representatives.”

Cordero has played 26 times for Malaga in Spain’s second-tier this season, scoring four times and registering six assists.

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