Newcastle in talks to sign Viery as club official travels to Brazil - Report

Ahead of the summer transfer window, it’s about time that Newcastle United seriously shifts its focus towards scouting the South American market for hidden gems.

Having failed to land Rayan from Vasco da Gama, it hurts seeing the attack flourish under Andoni Iraola at Bournemouth whilst the likes of Harvey Barnes, Jacob Murphy and Anthony Elanga struggle on the pitch.

So whilst we may have missed out on signing the 19-year-old, there’s still plenty of opportunities this summer to make up for it and make a name for ourselves in the market.

And where Rayan could have been the long term solution to some of our attacking woes, one defender could be a key player in our bid to future proof our ageing back line…

Toon Gremio talent watched again

According to Globo Esporte, a Newcastle United representative was in Brazil over the weekend to watch Viery: a 21-year-old Gremi talent who can operate at left-back and centre-back.

Gremio recorded a 3-0 win against city rivals Internacional, and Viery is thought to have impressed once again to preserve the clean sheet, also launching the counter attack for the second goal.

It’s understood that the club have also held talks with the player’s agent, and have been monitoring his situation for some time, suggesting Newcastle's interest is very real heading into the summer window,

Whilst no indicator on how Viery himself would perform, a number of past Gremio stars in flourished in Europe since making the switch from South America, including Arthur Melo, Lucas Leiva and, of course, the legendary Ronaldinho.

Young defenders needed

We’ve known for some time that signing a young defensive midfielder as well as young defenders has been the top of the priority list for Eddie Howe and Ross Wilson for some time, and Viery is no doubt just one name on what’s hopefully a very long list.

But after the past few weeks worth of displays, the news that we’re looking at fresh, promising young talent brings a huge sigh of relief.

Our squad ranks amongst the older in the entire division, mainly thanks to the seniority of our defender: Fabian Schar is 34, Dan Burn 33, Mieran Trippier 35, Emil Krafth 31 and all are nearing the end of their current contracts. There’s already a good chance that Schar and Krafth have each play their final games for us.

Viery, should he be signed, likely won’t be an immediate starter, but he’ll fill an essential role of a dependable versatile back up until he’s deemed worth of being a starter. We had that exact player in Lloyd Kelly, but we’ve failed to replace him ever since his move to Juventus - but that was a sale opportunity we simply couldn’t afford to pass on at the time.