FORMER Newcastle boss Steve Bruce claims the Magpies missed out on transfer record breaking midfielder Moises Caicedo when he joined Brighton two years ago.

The Ecuadorian became the most expensive player in Premier League history earlier this month when he swapped Brighton for Chelsea for £115m.

The Seagulls signed Caicedo for just £4.5m from Ecuadorian side Independiente del Valle in 2021. Manchester United were also said to have been interested at the time and it now has now also emerged that Newcastle were also keen and tried to bring the midfielder to St James' Park - only for Caicedo to instead choose Brighton.

That's according to former boss Steve Bruce, who told William Hill and Footy Accumulators’ No Tippy Tappy Football podcast:  “When I was at Newcastle we tried to sign Moises Caicedo for £4.5 million and I remember thinking what a good player he was. The chief scout at Newcastle, Steve Nixon, 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 £115 million, but he is a top, top player.”

One player who Newcastle did sign when Bruce was in charge was Joelinton, who arrived on Tyneside in 2019 for £40m, a club record fee at the time. But the Brazilian struggled in the early stages of his time with Newcastle, and it was only after the arrival of Eddie Howe - who shifted Joelinton into midfield - that the Magpies started to see the best of their expensive recruit.

Bruce admits he never considered moving Joelinton to midfield, but he claims he knew from day one that the former Hoffenheim man wouldn't be a prolific goalscorer playing up-front.

He says: “When I was in charge I picked Joelinton every week, but I knew from the moment he joined the club that he wasn’t a natural goalscorer. As soon as you put the number nine shirt on someone at Newcastle they’ve got a lot to live up to, but when he played in Germany he played on the left-hand side of a front three. I watched him play against Manchester City once and he played on the left.

“When I came into Newcastle, the deal for Joelinton had already been done. The big thing I had to consider was the fact that he had come in as a £40 million player, the biggest signing in years for Newcastle, and he had the number nine shirt, but he wasn’t a natural goalscorer.

 “We played him predominantly on the left and I have to be honest in saying that I never thought of playing him in midfield but he’s excelled there. In midfield, the onus isn’t on him to score the goals and if you look at his records from when he was younger he is not a prolific goalscorer, but he’s a brilliant footballer and a great lad with a great attitude.”

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Bruce left Newcastle 13 days after the takeover of the club in 2021, and has since said Howe was one of the managers he recommended as his replacement. The current head coach enjoyed a brilliant first full campaign at St James' Park, leading United into the Champions League, and Bruce is backing his former side to build on that success this term.

He said: “I wouldn’t be surprised if Newcastle managed to finish in the top four again this season. They are going to have more competition for it this year because you would expect Liverpool and Chelsea to both be better than they were last year. I think they have bought really well again and they’ve had a good start to the season, so we’ll have to wait and see.

“St James’ Park has transformed from when I was there. You can see the sell-out crowds and the flags waving and all the rest of it; it’s a really difficult place for anybody to go and get a result.”