‘Newcastle handed Tino Livramento boost as Man City identify cut-price target’
Newcastle United can breathe a sigh of relief with Manchester City considering moving on from Tino Livramento in their right-back hunt.
The Cityzens are searching for a new figure to man the right side of their backline after veteran Kyle Walker departed for Burnley following his unsuccessful loan at AC Milan last season.
Pep Guardiola can call upon the talented Rico Lewis in that position, but lacks depth beyond him, with Matheus Nunes often filling in there toward the end of last season.
Football Insider senior correspondent Pete O’Rourke revealed recently (July 6) that Newcastle would do everything within their power to keep hold of Livramento, who was understood to be one of City’s top targets.
Newcastle United given Tino Livramento boost
Champions League football is back on the menu next season, so Eddie Howe and the Newcastle fan base will be desperate to keep their best players at St. James’ Park.
With that in mind, there will be much relief around Tyneside at the news of Man City turning their attention to Inter Milan right-back Denzel Dumfries.
That’s according to former Man United and Blackburn chief scout Mick Brown, who remains well-connected within football.
“City are interested in signing Denzel Dumfries,” he told Football Insider (July 8) of the Netherlands international, who is understood to have a £21million release clause available to clubs outside of Serie A.
“He’s a player who has been on their radar for a while, with scouts keeping an eye on him, and they’ve decided he fits the profile they’re looking for.
Brown added: “Now they’ve been made aware of this release clause, which would make him relatively cheap.
“His agent has been speaking to clubs and making everybody aware of his availability.
“Especially after Walker left, it’s a position they feel they need to address, so he is somebody they’re considering alongside other targets.”
Newcastle the best place for Tino Livramento
The opportunity to join a club like Man City is not one to be dismissed lightly.
However, the 10-time English champions moving to another target might have done Livramento a huge favour.
| Games | Goals | Assists |
| 45 | 0 | 1 |
The 22-year-old was sensational in his 45 appearances across all competitions for Newcastle last season.
That was thanks in no small part to being given consistent game time by Howe, with Livramento playing 2,842 Premier League minutes — only three Newcastle players managed more (WhoScored).
Moving to City and going into direct competition with someone like Rico Lewis might serve to bring even more out of Livramento. However, the same is true for Lewis, meaning the Newcastle man would face the real risk of his gametime drastically reducing at a critical stage in his career.
Instead, he can now focus on accelerating his development at St. James’ Park, while keeping his battle against Lewis purely on the international stage with England.