Santos are reportedly ready to sell Brazilian wonderkid Marcos Leonardo in January and could demand up to £20 million amid extensive Premier League interest.
According to 90min, Santos are willing to sell promising striker Marcos Leonardo for the right price, with several top Premier League clubs, including Newcastle United and West Ham United, planning to sign him in the January transfer window.
Since making his professional debut for Santos in 2020, the 20-year-old has established himself as one of the most promising striking prospects in Brazil over the last few years.
Leonardo has scored 54 goals and registered 11 assists in 161 appearances for the Brasileiro giants across all competitions. And despite the side struggling in 15th place in Brazil’s Serie A, he has particularly excelled in front of goal in 2023, netting 21 times in 42 games.
Clearly a man much in demand, it seems fairly evident that Santos are not going to be able to keep hold of their man if any club comes in with an acceptable offer. With two-and-a-half years remaining on his current deal, Leonardo is valued at £20 million by Santos, a relatively low fee for someone of his promise and natural goal-scoring instinct.
The Brazil Under-23 international was strongly linked with a transfer away from Santos in the summer, with Serie A duo Lazio and AS Roma understood to have held advanced talks with the striker. But a switch to Italy ultimately failed to come to fruition.
Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Tottenham have also previously been credited with an interest in Leonardo and have apparently run the rule over him in the past. However, it is Newcastle United and West Ham United who are exploring a January deal for the Brazilian prodigy.
The Magpies, for one, have already opened talks with Santos behind the scenes over a potential deal for the striker. Eddie Howe is believed to be keen to bolster his squad in January, having been forced to work with a relatively small squad in recent weeks due to the injuries of a few key players, including attacking trio Alexander Isak, Jacob Murphy, and Harvey Barnes.
Ousting two in-form goal-getters in Isak and veteran Callum Wilson from the Newcastle team would prove difficult. But Leonardo certainly has plenty of time on his side to settle into new surroundings, and the Premier League’s intense style before eventually pushing for a starting place.
As for West Ham, they are in need of a striker in the January window given their two main centre-forwards, Michail Antonio and Danny Ings, have just two goals between them this season, an underwhelming return by the Premier League’s standards.
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Although he will need time to adapt and develop, Leonardo could be a shrewd acquisition for the Hammers and could fix their long-running centre-forward issue. In the here and now, he’s well capable of providing the squad with a big boost halfway through the season.
