Newcastle United now aiming to sign Joao Pedro – Report | OneFootball

Joao Pedro is now being targeted by Newcastle United.

Mike McGrath at The Telegraph has been a very reliable source in the past when it comes to Newcastle United in the transfer market.

He has now reported (see below) that Joao Pedro is seen as the ideal signing who can play in the same team as Alexander Isak, or as the lone striker if needs be in Isak’s absence.

The man from The Telegraph says that Eddie Howe has long admired Joao Pedro and tracked him since arriving at Watford at the age of 18.

Back in August 2022 it appeared that Joao Pedro was going to sign for Newcastle United, indeed, some media reported it as a done deal.

Only for Eddie Howe to then instead sign Alexander Isak for £63m (an initial £59m plus £4m in future add-ons).

A year later and Brighton bought Joao Pedro for £30m.

Towards the end of last season there was trouble at the training ground and the Brighton boss left Joao Pedro out of his matchday squad.

Looking at his stats since joining Brighton, they are pretty outstanding.

Making 48 starts (18 sub appearances), the striker has scored 25 goals these past two years.

Last season in the Premier League Joao Pedro managed 16 Premier League direct goal involvements, 10 goals and six assists, despite starting only 23 PL matches (four sub appearances).

With Bruno and Joelinton already at St James’ Park, what price another Brazilian joining them?

The Telegraph report suggests it will take at least £60m to land Joao Pedro but seen as he cost £30m in 2023 and has since more than proved himself as a Premier League player and goalscorer, that looks a fair valuation. It is three years ago that Newcastle United paid £63m for Alexander Isak, so no reason why they wouldn’t pay £60m+ now if Eddie Howe thinks he is the right player.

Interestingly, Joao Pedro almost helped wreck Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United project before it properly got going. At the age of 20 he came to St James’ Park in January 2022 and scored a Watford equaliser (see image above) with two minutes to go. Making it only one win in 20 PL matches for Newcastle United. However, Eddie Howe then produced a run of six wins and a draw in the next seven PL games and the rest is, as they say, history.

At the age of 23, Joao Pedro very much fits the profile of a typical Eddie Howe NUFC signing and having now won a trophy and able to offer Champions League football, interesting to see if Eddie Howe can finally now add Joao Pedro to his Newcastle United squad.

The Telegraph – Mike McGrath reporting 7 June 2025:

‘Newcastle United are ready to step up their pursuit of Joao Pedro after identifying the Brighton and Hove Albion forward as the ideal profile to bolster Eddie Howe’s attack.

As revealed by Telegraph Sport, Howe initially targeted Bryan Mbeumo this summer but the Brentford forward is heading towards Manchester United in a deal worth more than £60 million.

Newcastle have now turned to Pedro, who is rated just as highly at St James’ Park, and Howe has been tracking the 23-year-old’s progress since he moved from Fluminense to Watford in 2020 as a teenager.

His technical ability, pace and strength has seen him targeted as a player considered at Newcastle previously.

The Newcastle manager has been looking to add a wide forward who can cut inside with Pedro seen as the ideal candidate to support Alexander Isak as centre-forward while also being able to play through the middle himself.