Eddie Howe has dismissed talk of Newcastle United signing Enzo Fernandez after Alan Shearer joked the World Cup winner would 'look good in black-and-white'. The midfielder saw off competition from team-mate Julian Alvarez and Jude Bellingham to be named young player of the tournament following the final on Sunday.
Fernandez scored in the group-stage victory over Mexico and started all seven matches as Argentina claimed their third World Cup success with a penalty shootout win over France. The 21-year-old only joined Benfica this summer, but former Argentina international Pablo Zabaleta has already tipped the rising star for a move to a 'better league' next summer.
Zabaleta was joined in the BBC studio for coverage of the final by Shearer, and the Magpies legend raised the prospect of a move by asking if Fernandez would be available for Tuesday night's Carabao Cup clash with Bournemouth. Howe was asked about the comments made by the clubs' record goalscorer, but dismissed transfer speculation and suggested Newcastle could not match the likely asking price.
Howe told reporters: "I apologise to Alan, I think I was on the other channel. I'm aware of and I know him, but I think the transfer fee might be quite lumpy."
Newcastle are not expected to match their spending from the last January transfer window, where more than £90 million was spent to bring in five players. Attacking talents continue to be linked however, and Howe is adamant the Magpies would not make the move solely on the back of a player's performances in Qatar.
The head coach added: "From a recruitment perspective, I don't think you ever just analyse the World Cup and sign a player off the back of those performances. There's a huge body of work that goes into signing a player, so it's never off four weeks.
"There will be a period of work that goes into that. That's not to say we won't use the World Cup as a recruitment tool to look at those players, but just solely on those games? No, we wouldn't do that."
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