Eddie Howe to ship Newcastle fan-favourite to Saudi as he eyes big move for relegated attacker

Newcastle United are reportedly ready to sell winger Allan Saint-Maximin this summer as they look to fund a move for Leicester star Harvey Barnes.

Eddie Howe is thought to be a big admirer of the England international as he aims to bolster his squad after a tremendous 2022/23 campaign at St James’ Park.

The manager guided Newcastle to a fourth-place finish and as a result, they will be competing in the Champions League in the coming season.

Now, Howe is working hard on bringing in players with the quality to play in the competition. But, this may also mean offloading some Newcastle stars.

Saint-Maximin has been linked with a move away from Newcastle for some time. This is despite the Frenchman being a key player for them over the last few years.

However, Saint-Maximin fell behind the likes of Miguel Almiron and Alexander Isak in the pecking order last season. He made 25 Premier League appearances, scoring just one goal.

As a result, he has been deemed surplus to requirements by Howe and looks set to be sold to fund Newcastle’s transfer business.

This is according to talkSPORT, who claim Newcastle want to sell Saint-Maximin so they can sign Barnes from Leicester.

The 25-year-old was one of the few positives in a dismal 2022/23 season for the Foxes, which saw them relegated to the Championship. He scored 13 league goals in 34 appearances.

Leicester are set to sell several players this summer as they look to fund a squad rebuild under new manager Enzo Maresca and Barnes is their most in-demand player at the moment.

Indeed, talkSPORT suggest that Barnes is a key target for Newcastle and West Ham and will cost around £35m this summer.

The report adds that Newcastle are ‘hoping’ to sell Saint-Maximin to Saudi club Al Ahli to fund their pursuit of the relegated winger.

It’s been a relatively quiet window for the Magpies so far with their only signing being highly-rated midfielder Sandro Tonali.

They are still expected to bring in several players ahead of next season, though. For example, they have been linked with a big-money move for Napoli attacker Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

With that in mind, they will definitely be a team to keep an eye on in the transfer window over the next few weeks.

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