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Newcastle United could battle Barcelona for winger

By Sourav Mahanty

SAN SEBASTIAN, SPAIN - APRIL 21: coach Xavi Hernandez of FC Barcelona during the La Liga Santander match between Real Sociedad v FC Barcelona at the Estadio Reale Arena on April 21, 2022 in San Sebastian Spain (Photo by David S. Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty Images)
SAN SEBASTIAN, SPAIN - APRIL 21: coach Xavi Hernandez of FC Barcelona during the La Liga Santander match between Real Sociedad v FC Barcelona at the Estadio Reale Arena on April 21, 2022 in San Sebastian Spain (Photo by David S. Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty Images) /
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Newcastle United will be expected to make quite a few additions to their squad in the upcoming summer transfer window. They have been linked with a long list of names in recent times but not much appears to have progressed following that. The club had been linked with Philippe Coutinho but he has joined Aston Villa on a permanent basis, Paulo Dybala could be headed for Inter Milan and Ivan Perisic is being heavily linked with a switch to Chelsea.

There have been conflicting rumours about what kind of a budget The Magpies will be working on in the summer transfer window as well. Thus, it is safe to say that there is quite a bit of uncertainty about things.

Amongst all this, one player that they have been linked with is Leeds United’s Raphinha, who has been one of the most exciting wingers in the Premier League over the last couple of seasons.

Barcelona are believed to be in advanced talks with him though and thus, pulling off any deal would be difficult. Yet, Newcastle United have been exploring the possibilities for a while. As reported by FootballFanCast, Fabrizio Romano said while talking on the Wondergoal Podcast (12:45):

"“A player they (PIF) love is Raphinha from Leeds. We know that Barcelona are leading the race to sign to him, but Newcastle are exploring the possibilities for a long time.“They know this is going to be more than complicated because Barcelona are already in advanced talks with the player’s side. It depends if Leeds will get relegated or not (as) it will be important to understand if the clause will be activated or not.”"

Newcastle United could end up battling Barcelona for Raphinha

Despite Raphinha being a standout in the Premier League, Leeds United could be headed back down to the Championship and are currently sitting in the relegation zone with just two more league games to go.

If that happens it is believed that a release clause will become active in Raphinha’s contact, which would make it easier for any club to sign him.

Of course, all of that depends on what happens with Leeds United. It looks like a race between them, Burnley and Everton, to avoid the drop by finishing above 18th, with Norwich City and Watford already confirmed to be relegated.

If Newcastle United are able to sign Raphinha, that would be a major coup for the club but with Barcelona also interested, it will be very difficult to pull off.

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