The £43m Brazilian who could give Newcastle the midfield firepower they need to make top four

They love a Brazilian up on Tyneside, these days. Bruno Guimarães provides the class, Joelinton offers the guts. Both are dynamic, determined and suit Eddie Howe’s gameplan down to the ground – but it’s become pretty clear over recent weeks that Newcastle United need some reinforcements, and reports suggest that they could be going back to Brazil to find them.

Éderson is not a goalkeeper who plays for Manchester City, believe it or not. That carefully-placed accent belongs to a 24-year-old midfielder who has spent the last 18 months at Atalanta in Serie A, playing very well indeed. Blessed with many of the same qualities that make his compatriots in black and white such a good fit for the Magpies, it’s easy to see why Howe would be interested in signing him, and that’s exactly what the Italian media thinks could happen.

As it stands, this doesn’t look like a deal that will happen before the summer. A precise asking price is hard to nail down but there have been suggestions that a bid in the region of €50m (£43m) would be needed to get hold of a player whose current contract runs until 2026. With Juventus apparently contemplating a bid as well, Atalanta are in a good bargaining position, so it would take a lot of cash to secure his signing this January – and with the Premier League strictly enforcing their profit and sustainability rules, Newcastle are unlikely to have an enormous amount of spare cash to splash right now.

That explains why a loan move for Kalvin Phillips is more likely (or at least seemed to be at the time of writing, with fresh reports suggesting the deal may have been abandoned) or even a bid for Jordan Henderson – Newcastle need extra bodies to bolster a flagging midfield and with the news that Joelinton will be out for around six weeks breaking ahead of the recent defeat to City, a pressing need has become a desperate one. But while Phillips or Henderson might be strong short-term solutions, it looks a lot like Éderson is the man Howe wants for the long haul.

Watching him play, you can see why Newcastle like him straight away. He plays like an exceptionally well-rehearsed Joelinton covers band, getting everywhere on the pitch and trampling every last blade of grass over the course of 90 minutes as he breaks up attacks, forces turnovers and dribbles the ball quickly forward to spark attacks. He’s a perfect match for Howe’s system, which relies on a narrow, close-knit midfield pressing constantly as a unit and getting the ball forward quickly when the ball is won.

Put Éderson and Joelinton’s stats side by side and you have to squint to spot the differences. Éderson makes slightly more tackles and interceptions per game, Joelinton is better at getting into dangerous areas to receive passes upfield. Éderson is a little better at hitting accurate long passes, which makes a big difference with the way Howe likes to play, but Joelinton does net more assists, suggesting a better eye for a clinical final pass. But when it comes down to it, they do the same things, using industry off the ball and quality in possession to get the ball quickly up towards the front line.

There’s an argument that Newcastle could do with diversifying their midfield a little bit – alongside the two Brazilians that serve as the headline acts in the heart of St. James’ Park, players like Sean Longstaff and Joe Willock have similar profiles too. Young Lewis Miley does offer something a little different, but otherwise Howe’s midfield set-up is effective but somewhat one-dimensional. The counter-argument, of course, is that you don’t try to fix that which isn’t broken. By that logic, buying Éderson makes all the sense in the world. He offers Newcastle more of what they have without compromising on quality, at least judging by his performances this season, or back in 2022 when he played a huge role in helping Salernitana to survive in Serie A.

Of course, it may be that Newcastle sign Phillips and perhaps even Henderson (although that seems more fanciful at this stage, for all that he may regret his move to Al-Ettifaq), and negate the need for Éderson. Or perhaps the reports that Paris Saint-Germain are circling around Bruno prove to be true, and the Atalanta midfield becomes a dire necessity again as Newcastle sell existing stars. There is a lot that could change between here and the summer, when Newcastle will realistically revisit the idea of buying Éderson – but assuming the coach remains in charge and the broad thrust of the tactics remain the same, then this looks like as neat a fit between player and club as you will ever see.

It’s not often that you simply can’t pick a hole in a transfer, or see ways in which it might not work out – with Éderson, the only issue is whether Newcastle feel able to afford him. If they can, then they should get Howe his man, because he looks like he was born to play in that midfield.