Spanish online media outlet Relevo's resident renowned Italian transfer journalist Matteo Moretto reported on Friday that Newcastle United is close to signing Malaga's Spain U21s international winger wonderkid Antonio Cordero.

According to Moretto's report, Cordero has basically reached personal terms with Newcastle United. Although the player will join the Magpies as a free agent, since Cordero is still under 21 years old, according to FIFA regulations, any buyer must pay youth training compensation fee to his club when signing a player under 21 years old. Therefore, the two clubs are currently negotiating on this matter.

It is reported that Cordero will sign a 6-year long-term deal with Newcastle United which will run until the summer of 2031. Due to the lack of experience in the playing top league, the player is expected to be loaned-out to other clubs to gain match experience, but it is still unknown which club Cordero will be loaned-out to.

In addition, Moretto added that in fact, Barcelona and Real Madrid also launched a fierce pursuit towards signing Cordero.

Barcelona offered him to play for the B team first and then be promoted to the first team like Gavi, Pedri, Fermin Lopez, Lamine Yamal, Ansu Fati, while Real Madrid suggested that Cordero could join the club first like Endrick and Arda Guler, and then be slowly promoted to become an undisputed key player in the first-team.

However, both offers have been rejected by Cordero, who is more eager to get a chance to play in the Premier League.

About Antonio Cordero

Antonio Cordero, who is only 18 years old and nicknamed Antoñito, was born on November 14, 2006 in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. He is 1.78 meters tall and primarily plays as a left winger. He can also play as a right winger or attacking midfielder.

Cordero played for Xerez, Cadiz, Sevilla and Real Betis youth academies when he was young. He joined Malaga's youth academy in 2022 and completed his Malaga first-team debut by coming on as a substitute in September of the following year. At the age of 16, he became the fourth youngest player in the club's history.

One month later, Cordero was directly called-up into the Spain U19s national team and has recently been called-up into the U21s national team.

Since his debut, Cordero has played 54 times for the Spanish Segunda División club in all competitions, scoring 6 goals and assisting 9 times.