Newcastle United have made an enquiry into the value of Middlesbrough’s Daniel Ayala according to a report from the Daily Mail.
The 25-year-old defender is seen as one of Middlesbrough’s best players and the reason why their defence has been so good in the last few seasons and he was expected to step up with the rest of the team to the Premier League.
But while he may be staying in the North East, he could be dropping right back down to the Championship again after Middlesbrough’s fierce rivals Newcastle made an enquiry into how much he would be worth.
The move isn’t as random as you might think as Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez does know Ayala from previous managerial jobs. He was the man who signed the Spanish defender from Sevilla when he was the manager of Liverpool and would be very happy to do it again to boost his defence ahead of their first season back in the Championship since 2010.
But if Newcastle want to sign Ayala they have a tough task ahead of them. Middlesbrough will not be keen to sell one of their best players to such a fierce rival, especially if they are a league below. Because of that they are expected to say that Ayala would cost Newcastle £15m to try and put the Magpies off making any further approaches.
