Newcastle United ‘want’ one-time Liverpool and Manchester United transfer target

Newcastle United are reportedly set to turn their attention towards an offer for Leicester City winger Harvey Barnes.

The Magpies have already added Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope and defensive duo Matt Targett and Sven Botman to their squad this summer and are hoping to add at least two more additions before the end of the transfer window.

A winger and a striker are on the agenda but the United hierachy have been left frustrated in their attempts to land the likes of Reims youngster Hugo Ekitike and Bayer Leverkusen winger Moussa Diaby.

Leeds United and Everton were reportedly contacted over respective deals for Jack Harrison and Anthony Gordon and that has led the Magpies to consider alternative targets.

A move for Foxes winger Barnes is being discussed according to The Sun, with the 24-year-old rated at around £50million by the former Premier League champions.

Newcastle’s own valuation is said to be around half of that amount after Barnes and that means there is considerable work to be done if a compromise is to be found.

Barnes linked with a move to Liverpool and Manchester United in the summer of 2020 after enjoying a productive season with Leicester, scoring seven goals and providing nine assists for Brendan Rodgers’ side.

He still has three years remaining on the contract he agreed last summer and spoke about his delight at the Foxes progress during his time at the club.

He told LCFCTV: “We want to keep building on what we’ve done the previous season.

“The last two years, we’ve done that. We’ve achieved some great things in the last few months. We’ve won the FA Cup and the Community Shield. This year, we want to recreate that and go even further.

“You look around and you can see that there is a project going on. We’ve got a lot of young players who are coming through, and they’ve got a lot of amazing years ahead of them.”

The once-capped England winger endured a slightly underwhelming season last year but is still highly-rated by key figures within the King Power Stadium and it seems likely he will only be allowed to depart if Newcastle significantly increase their reported valuation.