The transfer rumour mill is spinning once more with Newcastle United poised to be in the running for a number of top continental players over the coming months. Wednesday saw the Magpies linked, once again, to Barcelona winger Raphinha - with speculation in Spain suggesting Newcastle will offer around €80m (£70m) for the Brazilian's services in the summer.
Barcelona are expected to offload a significant amount of talent in the near future as the Spanish giants grapple with yet another financial crisis. La Liga have ordered the club to trim their expenditure by €200m (£177m) by selling players and reducing wages.
Raphinha is happy at the club and manager Xavi is pleased with his contributions thus far. "Raphinha is having a great season and will continue to be important," Xavi said. "I told him so personally the other day. I'm very happy with him. Furthermore, he doesn't think the return of (Ousmane) Dembélé could detract too much from his role."
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Raphinha left Leeds United under a cloud after pushing through a move to the Camp Nou but has featured 45 times across five different competitions for Barcelona this season and was hot property after helping the Whites remain in the Premier League last term.
Yet Newcastle fans have been somewhat split by the emerging transfer links. Some believe paying £70m for a position that isn't a priority for Eddie Howe this summer would be wasteful. Others believe a player of Raphinha's ilk would feel at home with his fellow countryman on Tyneside.
Raphinha was taken off in the 52nd minute after a lacklustre performance against Osasuna on Tuesday and has previously sulked when substituted on previous occasions. Would his temperament suit this current harmonious Magpies setup?
A transfer figure of that nature would also significantly deplete Newcastle's summer budget - with little revenue expected to be brought in from player sales. With Champions League football on the cards, a squad revamp is likely, with central midfield, left-back and another attacker the priority for Howe.
Barcelona will be keen to find suitors for a number of surplus stars in the near future. Newcastle, with their new-found wealth and stature, are an easy target for big clubs hoping to offload expensive talent. It feels like a convenient link to drum up attention in the attacker's services.
Dan Ashworth and his team will have their list of targets all-but drawn up, with Howe signing off deals he likes the look of. Newcastle's summer budget is yet to be decided and the shortlist for potential incomings will change somewhat depending on which European competition the north east outfit find themselves in.
One thing is for sure: Raphinha won't be the last highly-rated export touted in Newcastle's direction before the summer.
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