PIF may now sell “exceptional” Newcastle star to fund summer spending spree

Newcastle United and PIF could be ready to part ways with one of their stars this summer in a bid to strengthen their squad before the new season.

Below par season to date

Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup confirmed that Newcastle United will end the season without a trophy once more, and the Magpies have suffered a difficult season across all competitions.

Finishing bottom of their Champions League group, albeit having been handed the group of death, they have seen an injury list of epic proportions force Eddie Howe to rely on the same core group of players for much of the season.

They are on course for a poor finish in the Premier League too, with the Magpies currently in 10th place and having won just two of their last five league games, form that is unlikely to see them break into the top 8 and qualify for European football next season.

Should they miss out entirely, there may well have to be some painful departures come the summer, with plenty of their squad used to Champions League football and Financial Fair Play looming large in the rear-view mirror.

It is no secret that difficult decisions will have to be taken, with the club’s CEO Darren Eales admitting as much earlier in the campaign.

“It’s just the nature of the beast. If you trade players on, it creates more headroom,” Eales explained. “You have to keep growing that headroom, increasing commercial revenue and player trading.

“Any decision we make will always be against the backdrop of the medium to long-term benefit for the club. It’s difficult to say specifically on certain players, but I can say that, if we’re going to get to where we want to get to, at times it is necessary to trade your players.”

Now, reports suggest that the Magpies are coming round to the idea of possibly letting one man leave in order to ease their FFP concerns and allow them to continue what they hope is their upward trajectory.

Bruno Guimaraes could leave Newcastle

The man in question is none other than Newcastle talisman Bruno Guimaraes, who is understood to have a £100m release clause in his contract and is being tracked by a whole host of clubs ahead of a potential summer bidding war for his services.

Chief among the interested parties are understood to be Manchester City, and Pep Guardiola has made no secret of his admiration of the Brazilian.

“He is an exceptional holding midfielder. He is aggressive, with the ball or without the ball. At set pieces, he’s aggressive and is a real, complete holding midfielder since being at Lyon and now at a club who want to grow up and up.”

Now, Football Insider journalist Pete O’Rourke reports that Newcastle ‘will be forced’ to sell one star this summer and that ‘Guimaraes is high on the list of those who could be sacrificed’, with the Brazilian frustrated with how the season has panned out to date.

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The Magpies could repeat their Guimaraes success this summer.

It is added that ‘Newcastle need to raise funds before signing any targets’. With Guimaraes having a release clause in his contract, any deal could be concluded swiftly and could be the easiest way of raising quick cash this summer to fund their own transfer business, which the report adds could include as many as four new faces before the new season.