Newcastle given hope of ‘sensational’ Barella transfer despite claims Inter consider him ‘non-transferable’

Newcastle United have a glimmer of hope in their attempts to sign Nicolo Barella despite reports Inter Milan have claimed he’s ‘non-transferable’.

Barella has been one of the best midfielders in world football over the past couple of seaasons with the Italy international helping Inter win the Coppa Italia and reach the Champions League final, where they eventually lost to Treble winners Manchester City.

A report in the Daily Telegraph yesterday claimed that Newcastle are ‘pushing hard to complete a sensational deal to sign’ Barella this summer.

It is understood that the Magpies are ready to spend ‘the majority of their transfer budget’ on the Inter Milan midfielder and Leicester City’s James Maddison.

A deal was described as ‘reachable’ in the Telegraph‘s report ‘with intensive talks taking place over the last few days’ as Newcastle prepare a contract to make Barella their ‘highest earner’.

But now a number of claims from Italian outlets have poured cold water on the potential signing with Calciomercato insisting that his agent has ‘not listened to any offers’ and ‘has never spoken to Newcastle’.

They can also say with ‘certainty’ that the £50m being reported would not be enough to sign Barella this summer with the club putting his valuation higher.

And now another Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport (via Sport Witness) claims that an ‘intermediary’ has ‘tested the waters’ over a potential deal for Barella.

Inter now know of the Premier League side’s interest but Gazzetta adds: ‘The first proposal on the table would be 50 million pounds or 58 million euros. Not enough to intrigue the Viale della Liberazione club, but… it’s a start.’

The biggest problem that Newcastle have is that Inter see the midfielder as ‘non-transferable’ while Barella ‘dreams of a top club’ with the Geordies ‘not yet on the level of the other greats’.

The hope? Gazzetta continues: ‘The signal launched by Newcastle, however, may not remain isolated and it is probable that it was only a first approach, with the figure destined to rise. Than we will see.’

It has previously been reported that Newcastle boss Eddie Howe wants ‘four or five elite players’ over the summer to help them cope with the demands of Champions League football.

Howe said last month: “The potential pitfalls that we face next season will be expectations. And what you can’t underestimate is the demands that Europe will place upon us, whichever competition we are in.

“That is going to be very very difficult and it is going to be new to us so that is a huge challenge for us. You look at Leicester’s example and you can never underestimate what that takes out of the squad in terms of the demand of Premier League to Europe to Premier League and West Ham this year would be another example.

“They have done brilliantly in Europe but probably because of those demands their Premier League form has suffered a little bit so it’s something we are going to have to think long and hard about.

“The expectation is the challenge. Suddenly, everything is raised, and that then becomes normal. If you finish fourth, fifth, sixth, anything below that is then viewed as a failure – and that is very difficult, because the challenge of the Premier League is so tough. That’s for next year, not now.”

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