Obviously, a lot has been said and will continue to be debated about Newcastle United’s takeover and the moral stance, but there are also going to be some serious transfer rumours involving the Magpies.
It will be interesting to see what kind of player they can actually attract, as it’s likely agents and players will see them as a free payday in the same way that Man City were before they qualified for the Champions League and then everything changed.
It’s unlikely they’ll sign any ready-made megastars unless some eye-watering sums of money are thrown around, but Goal have indicated that Ousmane Dembele is interested in making the move after initial contact was made.
Dembele has been hampered by injuries throughout his time at Barcelona while there was always somebody ahead of him in the pecking order for the starting spot on the left wing, so he was usually the fourth-choice forward in a system where only three could start.
All of this meant that he never had a proper run in the team to establish himself, but he’s also out of contract in the summer so Newcastle could sign him for nothing.
What that also means is the player can demand some serious money from Newcastle, and it’s suggested that he would be paid €15m as a signing bonus and the same amount each year as his annual salary over five years.
The concern for Newcastle fans certainly won’t be his talent and you can’t really question his attitude either, but those injuries have to be a concern and you don’t want to pay someone that much money to simply sit in the stands.
The report also claims that Barca are refusing to play the Frenchman who once cost them up to €145m until his contract situation is sorted out, but that could also play into Newcastle’s hands if they want to bring him in earlier.
They can formally sign him to an agreement from January and at that point Barca would have no leverage and wouldn’t want to play him so any transfer fee would be fairly minimal, and it would be brilliant to see what he could do if he stayed fit and was given a starring role.
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