Newcastle snapping up Peruvian wonderkid Rodrigo Vilca, 21, in bargain £120k transfer from Municipal Deportivo
NEWCASTLE are snapping up rising Peruvian star Rodrigo Vilca in a shock raid on South America.
The Toon agreed a bargain £120,000 deal for Vilca, 21, with Municipal Deportivo and he will fly in to join before the window shuts.
Vilca has just been called up by the national squad for the first time and is a creative No10 who will follow in the footsteps of former Geordie idol Nolberto Solano.
The fee is low because Vilca’s contract is running out and there will be no need for a work permit as he has a Spanish passport through dual nationality.
Newcastle will add Vilca to their squad and may let him out on loan next year if he has failed to break through by then.
Vilca has three goals and three assists to his name in the 2020 Peruvian season, which was shut down for five months due to the coronavirus pandemic.
His arrival will move the Toon up to six first-team arrivals this autumn, with their spending at around £35million.
Callum Wilson and Jamal Lewis have been the only players to command a significant fee alongside the freebie signings of Mark Gillespie, Ryan Fraser and Jeff Hendrick.
With two wins and a defeat under his belt in the new season, manager Steve Bruce paid tribute to Newcastle’s “smart” strategy in the market.
He said: “We didn’t spend the money in January, which enabled us to keep hold of it and make sure that we could get the players that we wanted to get in this summer.
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“I think that was a smart move.
“I’ve worked tirelessly alongside Steve [Nickson], Lee Charnley and the scouting department. We try to work together – of course, it’s impossible for me to see every single player.
“But we all thought that with the short pre-season, with the build-up not being long, to get people settled into a new environment, let’s go for a little bit of the tried and tested. I think it’s certainly helped us.”