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This past winter we profiled Inter's Davide Santon, but since then we haven't really heard too much about him. The reasons seemed pretty obvious at the time...Santon was young, uber-talented, and already at a big club with an aging right back. Because of this, it seemed fairly obvious that Inter really had no reason to be selling. That all seems to be mistaken, however, as Santon is reportedly in talks with Newcastle over a potential switch to the Premier League. According to the article, Santon's agent was quoted the following:
At this time, there is no possibility that Santon can join Roma because right now the aim is Newcastle.
What?!? Newcastle? It makes sense in the aspect that he'd get plenty of playing time, but beyond that I just don't understand. If he is indeed negotiating with English clubs, I'd hope we're smart enough to be picking up the phone and bombarding his agent with calls. He's young enough to not occupy a roster spot, has the talent to challenge for a starting job right now, and will likely be a much better value than Gregory Van der Weil. He's also shown the versatility to play in several positions on the pitch, something which AVB seems to covet.
His going to Newcastle would not be the worst thing in the world, as he'd certainly be available to poach down the line if we need him (and we will certainly need RB cover soon). I can't see any reason to wait, however, as we can certainly offer a better wage package than the northerners and this would fit right in with the tremendous value signings we've been making all summer.
Needless to say, if the deal as reported does go through, we'll be more than a little jealous of our friends at Coming Home Newcastle.