Miguel Almirón has become the most expensive signing of the Mike Ashley era at Newcastle United, with his £21m move from Atlanta United finally eclipsing the record £16.8m transfer fee the north east club paid Real Madrid for Michael Owen in August 2005.
Ashley’s near 12 years as owner have been characterised by budget buys but, perhaps motivated by real fears that Rafael Benítez could be on the point of quitting as Newcastle’s manager, the retail tycoon belatedly sanctioned a long-mooted deal for the Paraguay playmaker.
The 24-year-old was very much the star of Major League Soccer side Atlanta United FC and Benítez trusts he will fill the No 10 position which has long been a problem role at St James’ Park. For his part, Almirón describes his high-profile switch as both “something beautiful” and “a big responsibility.”
He has agreed a five-and-a-half year deal and his first priority will be to help create – and score – the goals required to relieve Newcastle’s relegation fears and keep them in the Premier League.
Capped 13 times by Paraguay, Almirón helped Atlanta win last season’s MLS Cup and was selected in the MLS Best XI at the end of both of his seasons with the Georgia-based club.
“I’m very happy and eager to start and to meet my new team mates,” said Almirón before revealing the raison d’etre behind his trans-Atlantic journey. “The league is very competitive, this is a historic club, and Rafa Benítez himself were the main reasons why I am here now,” he explained.
“I think it is a great responsibility, something beautiful for me, and I will try to offer the best I can to repay the trust the club put in me.”
An evidently relieved Benítez, who has also welcomed Antonio Barreca, a former Italy Under-21 left back or left wing back on loan from Monaco until the end of the season, said: “We were following Miguel Almirón for a while, and we saw a player with some pace in attack, who can play behind the striker. We have someone who can score goals and give assists.
“We know that MLS is a different challenge to the Premier League but he has the potential to do what we are expecting, and what we need. From talking to the lad, you can tell that he is really focused and wants to do well. He wants to be successful and he wants to help the team.
“His impact in MLS has been really good – he’s been one of the best players this year – and hopefully he can give us more competition and more quality in the final third. I am pleased that the hard work behind the scenes has ended positively and I thank everyone for their efforts.”
Back on a sunny day in August 2005, 15,000 fans turned up at St James’ Park in their lunch hour to see Owen paraded on the pitch but, although Almiron has arrived with considerably less fanfare, the hope is he will prove a much more effective buy than the former England striker whose time on Tyneside was plagued by injuries.