Eddie Howe has admitted Newcastle ‘liked’ one Liverpool star before he joined the Anfield outfit earlier this summer.
The Toon Army welcome the Reds to St. James’ Park later today in what is set to be an exhilarating encounter in the north east.
And speaking ahead of the game the Newcastle boss admitted his admiration for Dominink Szoboszlai but explained why a move for the Hungary international wasn’t made.
“We liked him. He’s had a very good start to his career,” Howe said (as quoted by NUFC Blog). “He’s captain of his country at a really young age, and that tells you about his mentality.
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“He’s a good technical player. It would have been quite an expensive purchase for us, so there is lots that goes into every transfer. But he is certainly one that we liked.”
Without reading too much into the former Bournemouth manager’s comments this could be somewhat of a dig at Jurgen Klopp.
Our German tactician has been rather outspoken about the Saudi ownership of Newcastle and the eye-watering financial power that they have (Guardian) but this appears to be an attempt from Howe to tell the former Borussia Dortmund boss that he also has the finances required to pull off huge deals.
We’re delighted to have completed the £60m deal for the 22-year-old with him looking the real deal during our opening two Premier League games.
He ran the show at times against Bournemouth last weekend but it’ll be a different sort of game against the Magpies today.
Winning the battle in the middle of the park is imperative if we’re to come away with anything from the game so let’s hope for another huge performance from our No. 8.
#Ep87 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Steve Kay & Tobi Altschäffl🎙️