According to an article on the Tuttosport website, Newcastle United are one of two possible teams that could land young Venezuelan striker Josef Martinez, the other being Bundesliga side Hamburg.
23-year-old Martinez, who has 37 caps for Venezuela (nine goals), has been at Torino since the opening of the summer 2014 transfer window on July 1, arriving in a £2.5m deal from Swiss Super League side BSC Young Boys.
In total, for Torino, Martinez has made 75 appearances, scoring 13 goals and providing 6 assists – with a single goal in 10 for this season in Serie A.
The Tuttosport article mentions that Newcastle and SV Hamburg have a hard interest in the youngster, who Transfermarkt see as a £1.7m player but warn that there is “also a concern, more soft, however, by Palermo.”
Newcastle are, of course, lucky enough to have the Sky bet Championship’s leading scorer in 19-goal top-scorer Dwight Gayle, a player who is helping to fire the Magpies back towards the Premier League at the first time of asking. However, if you are looking for a spread of goals throughout the Newcastle side then the nearest to Gayle are attacking midfielder Matt Ritchie and Yoan Gouffran who both have only four goals each.
Aside from his Serie A goals, Martinez have nine goals for Venezuela including a hat-trick in his last game for La Vinotinto in a World Cup Qualifying game against Bolivia where he scored the second goal before a quickfire brace for goals three and four rounded off his first international hat-trick.
The quick-footed youngster, with an eye for goal, might appeal to a Newcastle United side looking for a goal outlet other than that provided by Dwight Gayle.
