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.

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