£40m star left out of pre-season squad after ‘accepting’ Newcastle United transfer

Leicester were beaten 2-1 in the behind closed doors training ground friendly against the League One club. Goals from Kwame Poku and Joe Tomlinson either side of Ricardo Pereira’s strike saw The Posh win at Leicester.

22 Leicester players featured in the friendly but there was no sign of Barnes amid transfer interest from Newcastle. The Foxes explained that the 25-year-old winger was ‘rested’ despite returning for pre-season training as usual last week.

Newcastle have made Barnes a top transfer target this month after securing the signing of Sandro Tonali from AC Milan last week.

United have held an interest in Barnes for some time and are now preparing to make a move. While no formal bid or agreement between the clubs has been made, The Gazette understands Barnes is expecting to leave Leicester to join Newcastle this summer.

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano claimed the player has ‘already accepted’ Newcastle as his next destination.

The Foxes want £40million for the winger who scored 13 Premier League goals in a relegation season and Newcastle will consider selling Allan Saint-Maximin in order to fund the transfer.

West Ham United, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur have also been credited with an interest in the one-time England international.

While Newcastle will try to push ahead with a deal this week, there is likely to be some period of negotiation between the two clubs but personal terms are not expected to be an issue.