Newcastle intensify interest in Porto's William Gomes - Report

Newcastle United appears to be on the search for another winger following the struggles of £55 million Anthony Elanga.

While it could be argued that Newcastle have good cover for the left flank with Anthony Gordon and Harvey Barnes fighting for position, the competition on the opposite flank isn't as strong.

Should both Gordon and Barnes stay at the club in the summer, we don't need to worry too much about the left, but on the right, we have Anthony Elanga, who has struggled to adapt since his big-money move from Nottingham Forest, and Jacob Murphy, who is superb on his day, but those days are becoming more and more rare.

Will Osula and even Lewis Miley can play on the right flank, but ideally, Newcastle needs a player who can take that position and make it their own.

Newcastle enter race for Gomes?

According to Diario AS journalist Eduardo Burgos, who is an expert on South American players, Newcastle have joined the race for FC Porto winger William Gomes.

He reports that Newcastle have 'intensified' their interest in the 20-year-old, but does insist that his future won't be sorted until after the World Cup.

The Brazilian is attracting interest from elsewhere, with Portuguese journalist João Pedro Cunha recently claiming that Chelsea are leading the way for the attacker and are preparing a bid of £56 million plus bonuses for Gomes.

Arsenal and an 'unnamed Premier League club' were also thought to be interested, according to Cunha, and now it looks like that mystery club is Newcastle.

The Brazilian has managed 13 goals and two assists in 40 appearances for Porto this season and is also attracting interest from Spain.

We're not sold on this one yet

We're taking this one with a pinch of salt for now, though. We'll wait to see if the claims hit a major publication with credibility rather than freelance journalists with ties to Brazil and Portugal.

Also, whenever Chelsea is involved in a transfer, we automatically default to resignation that they will get their man. Then again, this could be agent-leg to try and whip up interest in an emerging talent eyeing a move to one of Europe's top leagues.

Rumour Rating: 5/10 - This one is about as 50/50 as it gets. It could be true, it could be pure fabrication. We may need another winger based on Elanga's struggles, but are big sums going to be spent on a young talent from Portugal? We need more info before we can move the needle one way or the other.