Newcastle United given major transfer hint as ex-Leeds United and Chelsea stars ‘up for sale’

Barcelona are open to selling both Raphinha and Andreas Christensen this summer as they aim to trim their wage bill - according to the Mirror. Both players are regarded as saleable assets by the La Liga giants who may need to sell this summer in order to comply with Financial Fair Play rules.

Christensen, who moved to Barcelona from Chelsea on a free transfer in July 2022, emerged as a potential target for Newcastle United during the winter transfer window amid a defensive injury crisis at the club. Raphinha, meanwhile, was heavily-linked with a move to St James’ Park when he left Leeds United in the same summer.

The Magpies, along with Chelsea and Arsenal, were among the contenders for his signature, however, the Brazilian instead opted to join the five-time Champions League and European Cup winners. Barcelona paid around £50m to sign Raphinha and will reportedly demand a similar fee this summer if they are to let him leave the Camp Nou.

It could be a summer of upheaval at Barcelona with manager Xavi Hernandez set to leave the club at the end of the season. Speaking to Catalan TV, Deco, who is Barcelona’s sporting director, also warned that they may have a quiet transfer window and instead focus on developing their younger players: “We will not do big signings next summer,” he admitted. “We need a new manager who understands the situation of the club, who understands that we have a lot of youngsters that need to be improved and worked on.

"Who understands we are growing as a team and that we won’t make top signings next summer. We don’t want to (have to sell someone). The ideal plan is to improve the current squad without sales. But if you have to sell someone, it will have to balance our current squad.

“I think that selling (Ronald) Araujo plus (Frenkie) De Jong to then sign (Kylian) Mbappe would worsen our current squad. Before contacting a manager, we need to know which path we are going to follow as a club."

Although no date has been set in stone just yet, the summer transfer window is expected to open around mid-June and will be synchronised across Europe.