Alan Shearer singles out Newcastle United star as transfer ‘approach’ made for Barcelona forward

Newcastle United were dealt a setback on Sunday after they came up short against title hopefuls Arsenal.

The Magpies lost 2-0 at St James’ Park, but with Manchester United also losing, no ground was lost in their bid to finish third, albeit top four outsiders Liverpool did close the gap by three points. As things stand, Eddie Howe’s men are three points clear of Liverpool with a game in-hand, so while they have some work to do, they are still very much on course for Champions League football.

In the meantime, we have rounded up all the latest news surrounding St James’ Park.

Raphinha ‘approach’

Newcastle are said to have made an approach to sign Barcelona winger Raphinha.

Barca only signed the former Leeds star last summer, but there is already talk he could be sold, despite the fact the winger has seen plenty of game time in the absence of Ousmane Dembélé through injury. According to Sport, Newcastle are one of the contenders to sign the Brazilian as they look to add attacking depth this summer.

It’s claimed Barca want to make a quick profit on the £50million or so they paid for Raphinha, reportedly demanding just under £70million this summer.

Shearer’s view

Alan Shearer believes Arsenal did a job on Newcastle star Bruno Guimaraes on Sunday.

“You have to also give credit to Arsenal,” Shearer told Premier League Productions. “They stopped Newcastle’s midfield. It has been such a huge part of what they do and how they operate.

“They stopped Bruno from playing. We said before the game, so much of what Newcastle do well comes through him and he didn’t have the best game, but it’s because of the way Arsenal stopped him.”

Guimaraes has been key for the Magpies this season, but Arsenal’s midfield, led by Martin Odegaard, dominated on Sunday.