Steve Bruce says he genuinely attempted to sign £115m PL star for Newcastle

Steve Bruce has now claimed that Newcastle United almost signed Moises Caicedo for £4.5million before he went to Brighton

The former Newcastle gaffer has appeared on Sam Allardyce‘s No Tippy Tappy Podcast and from the promo it’s going to be a fun one for Newcastle United fans. Big Sam and Steve Bruce on one podcast, this is going to be gold.

Bruce’s terrible tenure as boss coupled with outlandish claims he’s made during his time at Newcastle and indeed since has made him a figure that’s rife for parody amongst the Toon Army.

Steve Bruce talks about how Newcastle almost signed Caicedo

However, it now turns out that under Bruce we almost signed Moises Caicedo. Imagine how that could have turned around his fortunes and his perception amongst the fans.

In a clip emailed out by the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast advertising its upcoming episode, Steve Bruce says: “When I was at Newcastle we tried to sign Moises Caicedo for £4.5million and I remember thinking what a good player he was.

“The chief scout at Newcastle, Steve Nickson, came and told me that I had to see him play and that he was sensational.

“He ended up choosing Brighton instead of Newcastle and that will go down as one that we missed out on because now he’s gone on to become the British record transfer fee for £115million, but he is a top, top player.”

Would Caicedo be worth £115m now if he joined Newcastle?

There are bound to be some fans rolling their eyes at this thinking “Aye, whatever Steve!” but in 2021 talkSPORT reported on Brighton holding off a late approach by Newcastle for Caicedo, so there is definitely truth in this one.

Okay, so it’s unlikely that that one signing would have steered the ship in a different direction, but it’s interesting to ponder how Caicedo would have faired under Bruce at Newcastle.

My guess is that he wouldn’t be worth £115million today if he’d come to Newcastle under that regime.