Club makes contract decision amid Newcastle United transfer interest

Newcastle United fans were treated to a statement 4-1 victory over PSG as St James’ Park made its long awaited return to Europe’s elite competition. The result leaves the Magpies top of the ‘group of death’ after two matches and Eddie Howe’s team are hoping to further boost their chances of progression in back to back games against Borussia Dortmund.

Newcastle have ambitions of going far in the Champions League and a lot of their transfer focus in the summer was initially spent on a player who went extremely deep into last year’s tournament in Nicolo Barella.

The Italian international was a key member of the Inter Milan team which reached the final of last year’s competition and he even went toe-to-toe with Newcastle’s summer signing Sandro Tonali during the Milan derby at the semi-final phase.

During the summer months, Sky Sports reported that Newcastle submitted a bid of around £50m for Barella but a move for the player never materialised as Inter were firmly against selling their talisman.

Barella is viewed as an integral part of the Inter setup and the Euro 2020 winner is currently under contract with the Italian giants until 2026. However, Inter are keen to extend that deal to deter any potential bidders for the player, particularly if Newcastle opt to make an improved bid.

Inter recently lost out on a sizable transfer fee when Milan Skriniar opted to run down his contract and join Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent and they are keen to avoid that mistake with a star asset. Reports from Linterista state that Inter are in discussion to extend Barella’s contract as soon as possible to keep him at the club long term. Barella has played in all seven Serie A games this season and his team currently sit top of the table with six victories, including a notable 5-1 demolition of Newcastle’s Champions League rivals AC Milan.