Newcastle ‘keeping tabs on Brazilian wonderkid Andrey Santos but face £30m fight with PSG for midfielder

, the Magpies are very interested in landing the exciting 18-year-old midfielder.

And they feel their strong links in Brazil could see them beat off the Champions League heavyweights.

Chief scout Steve Nickson is said to be "firmly embedded" in South America and has good connections in the region.

Newcastle already have Brazilian duo Joelinton and Bruno Guimaraes in their squad and that could further entice the talented teen to join the Eddie Howe revolution with Loris Karius also possibly on his way.

It is thought Vasco da Gama would demand around £30m for their box-to-box star Santos.

Barca are thought to see the Brazil Under-16 international as a long-term replacement for veteran Sergio Busquets but reportedly have already had two bids rejected.

However, others believe the youngster, also linked with Manchester City, is better suited to a No8 role as a further advanced midfielder.

Ex-Middlesbrough, Atletico Madrid and Brazil playmaker Juninho said of his compatriot on the Resenha Loading YouTube channel: “Physically, he is a monster.

"Without the ball, his participation in the game is total. I wanted to see his GPS, because he doesn't stop.

"And technically, he's way above the others.

"He's not going to be better than me, he's going to be much better than me. He is a much more complete player.

"At 18, I didn't play half as much as he does, I'm not ashamed to say that."