London (AFP) – Midfielder Miguel Almiron has joined Newcastle from MLS outfit Atlanta, the Premier League side announced on Thursday, reportedly for a club-record fee.
The 24-year-old has penned a five-and-a-half-year deal for an undisclosed fee believed to be in the region of £20 million ($26 million), that will keep him at St. James’s Park until June 2024.
It eclipses the £16 million they paid Real Madrid for England striker Michael Owen in 2005.
“I’m very happy and eager to start and to meet my new teammates,” Paraguay international Almiron told NUFC TV. “The league is very competitive, this is a historic club, and Rafa Benitez himself were the main reasons why I am here now.
“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.”
Newcastle United manager Benitez said: “We were following Miguel Almiron 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.”