When asked about it after Newcastle United’s Champions League defeat last night, Eddie Howe confirmed that the club considered signing Felix Nmecha in the summer.
The former Manchester City youth prospect was reportedly on the club’s midfield radar this summer as he looked to move on from Wolfsburg.
When the head coach talked to the media last night at St. James’ Park, a reporter mentioned the interest and asked how close Nmecha was to joining Newcastle.
According to Howe, Newcastle considered signing Nmecha this summer. “He’s a player that we looked at and really liked, but yeah, he’s obviously at Dortmund now.”
Eddie didn’t say much else, but it looks that the curiosity was genuine.
Nmecha stayed in the Bundesliga and signed for Borussia Dortmund for roughly £26 million, however he was not warmly received by the fans, and for good cause.
Newcastle made a good call not pursuing the midfielder
When the Magpies’ interest in Nmecha was originally announced, some publications uncovered that he had posted homophobic and transphobic stuff on his social media, prompting fans to protest his signing.
The player claims that the posts were taken out of context, but GOAL says that Dortmund have included a social media clause in his contract that might result in a fine if he violates it.
Nmecha appears to be a fine player, but Newcastle don’t need another cause to scrutinize us, which could be why no deal was struck for him in the end.
Having said that, Sandro Tonali was most likely the backup plan for Nmecha, and look how that ended out!
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