Midfielder ‘one of the priorities’ for Newcastle – Already had ‘some contact’ in the summer

There is a ‘strong possibility’ that Newcastle United will move for Barcelona midfielder Philippe Coutinho come January.

That’s according to Sport, who say that the Brazilian is ‘one of the names’ on the table for the club after their takeover this week.

Newcastle’s new owners are reportedly keen to make as big an impression as they can early on, and with an almost bottomless fund of money to do so, it could see them make big moves in the transfer window.

Coutinho is one they were linked to when their previous attempt to finalise a takeover collapsed, and he remains a potential option for them now.

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His entourage have already had ‘some contact’ with emissaries for the Saudi group in the summer, but any move was put on hold as they fought to get the takeover completed.

Now that is has been confirmed, the midfielder remains ‘one of the priorities’ for Newcastle’s new owners.

Barcelona would also be more than happy to sell, having put Coutinho on the market this summer but only received ‘insufficient’ offers for him.

What they want isn’t made clear, but Newcastle can pretty much pay anything, so expect this rumour to build, particularly if Barcelona work hard to get rid of a player they really don’t want anymore.