According to a recent report from The Northern Echo, it has been revealed that Newcastle United expressed a genuine interest in acquiring the services of Felix Nmecha, the former Manchester City midfielder.
This interest was evident before Nmecha made his move to Borussia Dortmund from Wolfsburg during the summer transfer window. Newcastle had even deployed scouts to closely monitor Nmecha during his time at Wolfsburg.
Standing at 6 feet 3 inches, Nmecha, who recently scored the winning goal in a Champions League match, eventually decided to join Dortmund. Newcastle, however, changed their course and ultimately signed Sandro Tonali from AC Milan.
It’s worth noting that Tonali might face a 10-month ban from the Italian Football Association for alleged involvement in illegal gambling, with the announcement of this ban expected within the next 24-48 hours. Tonali did manage a 20-minute cameo appearance recently, but it’s uncertain whether he will feature for the rest of the season.
Nmecha, a German international, took some time to adapt to life at Dortmund, but he made a strong impression during a recent Wednesday evening match. This development confirms Eddie Howe’s acknowledgment of Newcastle’s interest in Nmecha:
“Nmecha a player that we looked at and really liked,” “But, yeah, he’s obviously a Dortmund player now.”
“Was it a case of us getting someone else instead? It’s never as simple as that.”
Dortmund head coach Edin Terzic was delighted by Nmecha last night:
“Felix is a brilliant player,” “We know about his potential and his talent, and we knew he could improve our game.”
“He had a fantastic game, and he finally managed to score. He had many opportunities to do that in the first games of the season.”
“It was a slightly different role for him because he played more attacking. He had a bit of a rocky start in Dortmund, but now he is in good form and good shape.”
“It is just half-time,” (50% (3) of the group games played) “We face each other again in a couple of weeks, and that is going to be a very important game.”
“I thought we showed a fantastic first half, and then fought a lot in the second half.”
“We deserved our lead in the first half, and protected it in the second.”
Newcastle will not pursue Nmecha now, but with three players injured – Isak, Murphy, and
Anderson – we will need players brought in throughout January regardless of whether we qualify
for the final rounds of the Champions League.
Let’s face it: we were unlucky last night against a very talented team.
So let’s not be too depressed – though I was down after the game last night.
A win over Wolves qualifies us for the League Cup tie at Old Trafford next Wednesday.
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