Newcastle interested in Lucas Rodrigues - Report

Newcastle United continues to search for exciting talent in the Southern hemisphere thanks to the efforts of Thomas Federspiel's South American scouting network.

Federspiel followed Ross Wilson from Nottingham Forest to Newcastle. The man responsible for bringing Murillo to the Premier League is now finding hidden gems for the Magpies.

Having already signed Johan Martinez, Newcastle are being linked with young South American talent almost daily, and ESPN Brazil is now reporting that the Premier League clubs have their sights set on 18-year-old Goiás star Lucas Rodrigues.

Sport Witness claims their sources have identified those Premier League clubs as Newcastle United and Aston Villa.

Lucas Rodrigues has release clause

Brazilian second division side Goiás are clearly aware that they have a talent on their hands after Lucas Rodrigues was labelled as a 'revelation' after breaking into their first team.

Meanwhile, Goiás club president Paulo Rogério Pinheiro has made his position clear, essentially telling all interested clubs that if they want Lucas, they will need to bring their chequebook as he has a release clause of £38 million, and he doesn't seem to be in the mood to negotiate.

“Officially, nothing has reached the club. But the whole world wants Lucas, not just England. His release clause is high and he has a contract until 2029.”

Lucas himself is aware of the interest, but insists that his focus is on Goiás.

“Yes, I’m aware (of the interest), but I’m not thinking about that right now. I play for Goiás and my mind is 100% on Goiás. There’s still the rest of the season, we want to get promoted, and I’m focused here.”

This one isn't fully adding up to us

We can't see Newcastle forking out £38 million for an 18-year-old who has only plied his first-team trade in teh second division in Brazil, but if there's a deal to be done, they may throw their hat into the ring.

It sounds like it's very early days on this one, and it could be a tricky one to do as Goiás don't seem too keen to let him leave so soon.

Rumour Rating: 4/10 - Very early days, and the fact that ESPN didn't reveal the interested clubs, but Sports Witness named them, gives us pause for thought. We know that Newcastle are hunting in that area, but does that just make it easy for SW to link us to the story?