The 18-year-old winger has rejected the Spanish powerhouses and is set to join the Magpies as a free agent in the summer
When Real Madrid or Barcelona are in the race for a young Spanish player, it is usually game over for their rivals. That's why it's all the more remarkable that Newcastle have seen off competition from the Spanish powerhouses to sign Malaga prospect Antonio Cordero.
The 18-year-old winger has signed a lucrative five-year contract at St. James' Park, having picked the Magpies over La Liga's two biggest clubs, and he will join up with his new team in the summer. All that's left is an official announcement.
It's an imminent deal that leaves his current employers bitterly disappointed after a long-running contract saga that has seen Cordero's relationship with Malaga sour, as he rejected the opportunity to continue with his boyhood club under the guidance of super-agent Pini Zahavi.
But why were Newcastle so determined to win the race for the youngster nicknamed Antonito? GOAL has the lowdown…
Where it all began
Cordero was born in Jerez de la Frontera near Cadiz in the south of Spain in November 2006. He has spent his entire career to date in Andalusia, starting out at local side Jerez Alternativa at the age of six before hopping around some of the region's biggest clubs.
That included spells with the likes of La Liga stalwarts Sevilla and Real Betis, but the winger eventually settled at second-tier Malaga in 2021 – the club he supported growing up – despite their infamous fall from grace.
Three days after his 16th birthday in November 2022, Antonito was handed his first professional contract to keep him with Los Boquerones until 2025 – the same deal he is yet to renew as some of European football's big hitters circle.
AdvertisementThe big break
Cordero was so highly regarded in the academy that he was handed his first-team debut before he had even made an appearance for Malaga's reserve side, Atletico Malagueno. He became the fourth-youngest player in the club's history when he came off the bench in a 2-1 victory over Atletico Madrid's B team in early September 2023, aged 16 years, nine months and 17 days.
His first senior goals would soon follow as he bagged a brace for Atletico Malagueno, as would a call-up to Spain's Under-18 squad, and he would go between the reserves and the first team for the remainder of the 2023-24 campaign – scoring 12 times for the former – as Malaga pushed for promotion from the third tier. Ultimately, it was Antonito who would send the club up as he delivered in the crucial moment.
Malaga reached the promotion play-off final and established a 2-1 first-leg lead over Gimnastic Tarragona at home before being pegged back in the return game, as Gimnastic secured a 1-0 win to force extra-time. The sides scored a goal each in the additional period as the tie seemed destined for penalties, but – having been thrown on as a 100th-minute substitute – Cordero had the last say as the 17-year-old popped up in stoppage time to bundle the ball over the line and win it. Some way to bag your first goal for the first team!
"I've been dreaming about this for a long time, and what better way to do it than to score the promotion goal," he said amid the euphoric celebrations. "It was inexplicable, really. This is Malaga; no team-mate here gives up. Our fans deserved us to take Malaga to the Segunda Division."
GettyHow it's going
It's fair to say Antonito had earned the right to become a fully-fledged member of Malaga's first team ahead of 2024-25, and he made a flying start to life in La Liga 2. He scored off the bench in the opening-day draw with Racing Ferrol before going on to provide a further six goal contributions in the first six games of the league season as Los Boquerones remained unbeaten. That form earned him a promotion to Spain's U19s before his 18th birthday.
However, Cordero's contributions largely dried up thereafter other than another flurry around Christmas, as his season unfolded against the backdrop of a contract standoff with the club after he switched representatives to super-agent Zahavi, who supposedly set about trying to find him a new club ahead of his deal expiring in the summer.
The winger reportedly rejected multiple offers that would have made him one of the Malaga's highest-paid players, with the rest of the squad irked by that revelation as their form took a turn for the worse at the turn of the year. Cordero has struggled to hold down a starting place in 2025, perhaps as a result of the impasse.
That being said, Antonito still has five league goals and seven assists to his name at the time of writing, which is not to be sniffed at given his tender age.
Getty ImagesBiggest strengths
At 18, Cordero still has plenty of growing to do, but he already boasts the upper-body strength to hold off far more experienced opponents. In that sense, he is not your typical, diminutive Spanish winger, but he does still possess a catalogue of skills and searing pace to beat his man.
Indeed, Antonito is very comfortable with the ball at his feet as a direct runner; in the first half of the season, he ranked in the 89th percentile for progressive carries and 90th percentile for carries into the box, per .
Predominantly a right-footed left-winger, Cordero also has the versatility to drift centrally, play as an attacking midfielder or switch flanks to the right, where he is just as dangerous as a touchline-hugging wide player. He backs himself, too, with the confidence to try long-range shots, attempt to beat his man and throw the odd trick.