Newcastle are preparing themselves for a series of big decisions over the final 10 days of the January transfer window as suitors attempt to take advantage of their spending restrictions.
The PA news agency understands the Magpies have rejected a loan offer from Bayern Munich for key defender Kieran Trippier and have received and rebuffed a similar approach from Atletico Madrid for striker Callum Wilson.
However, they are bracing themselves for follow-ups which could present the kind of dilemmas chief executive Darren Eales suggested might arise in the wake of the £400million-plus spending spree on which the club have embarked since their Saudi-backed owners took charge in October 2021 as a result of profit and sustainability rules.
Eales’ comments came earlier this month as Newcastle reported a loss after tax of £73.4m in their latest financial figures, after which he admitted that every player in Eddie Howe’s squad had their price as the club attempt to balance their books.
If that sparked fears that one of their most saleable assets – defender Sven Botman, midfielder Bruno Guimaraes or striker Alexander Isak – could be vulnerable, it appears to have prompted potential European buyers to test the water elsewhere.
Newcastle have not commented on the situation.
England full-back Trippier, 33, was the new regime’s first signing in January 2022 when he arrived at St James’ Park from Atletico in what has proved to be a bargain £12m move.
He has been the flagbearer for the progress which has been made since and has 18 months left on his existing contract.
- 148 - Alan Shearer
- 47 - Peter Beardsley
- 45 - Callum Wilson
- 43 - Andrew Cole
- 43 - Shola Ameobi
While there is no particular desire to sell him, he is one of the club’s higher earners and a substantial cash offer would leave Newcastle with a decision to make, although that could be eased in part by Tino Livramento’s summer capture.
Similarly 31-year-old Wilson, who has nine England caps, has 18 months to run on his current deal as he works his way back from a calf injury.
Fitness problems have limited the frontman, who joined the club in a £20m move from Bournemouth in September 2020, in recent months, but he currently represents the only back-up to the in-form Isak in attack and the Magpies would need to have a replacement lined up before they could even consider allowing him to leave.
Meanwhile, Newcastle confirmed on Sunday evening that full-back Javier Manquillo has left the club to join LaLiga side Celta Vigo on a permanent deal.
The 29-year-old will link up with Rafael Benitez – the man who signed him during his time at St James’ Park – at the Estadio Abanca Balaidos on his return to his native country.
Manquillo made 110 appearances and scored a single goal in a six-and-a-half-year stay on Tyneside after joining the Magpies from Atletico in July 2017, but last featured for Howe’s side as a late substitute against Brighton in May.