Newcastle set to sign Benfica midfielder in club-record deal

 

Newcastle are on course to break their club transfer record to sign Benfica midfielder Andreas Samaris in a £17.5m deal, reports The Daily Mirror.

 

Samaris, 28, has spent the last three years at Benfica after joining the Portuguese giants in a £8.8m deal from Olympiacos in 2014.

 

However, the Greece international dropped down the pecking order last season and now Newcastle are prepared to offer him regular first-team football in the Premier League as Rafa Benitez builds a squad capable of surviving in England’s top flight.

 

Benitez has reportedly been in talks with Newcastle for the last six weeks and should now be able to push a deal over the line after he was given greater power in transfer negotiations in the wake of Graham Carr’s departure on Wednesday.

 

Newcastle set to sign Benfica midfielder in club-record deal

 

It means Newcastle will break their club transfer record for the first time since they signed Michael Owen from Real Madrid for £17m in 2005, showing a statement of intent that has often been missing from the club since then.

 

Only Lubomir Fejsa (90.5%) and Victor Lindelof (89.9%) had better pass success rates of all Benfica players in the league last season than Samaris (89.3%).

 

For more stats on Andreas Samaris, click here to visit his WhoScored player page