Newcastle United are reportedly now among ‘suitors’ to sign FC Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembele.

The Lowdown: On his way?

With Barcelona having a lot of financial difficulties, encapsulated when they had to let Lionel Messi go to PSG in the summer transfer window (The Guardian), it would not be a surprise to see them try to sell some of their players on in January, especially their highest earners.

Dembele is currently earning a whopping £212,000-per-week at the Nou Camp, and given injury problems have kept him out for most of the season so far, next month may be the best time for them to cash in.

The Latest: Newcastle have a chance

As per Mundo Deportivo (via Sport Witness), the St. James’ Park faithful are now among a list of ‘suitors’ to take Dembele, and are making it ‘difficult’ for Barca to keep hold of him.

They still have to pay Borussia Dortmund €27m (£22.9m) as the rest of the instalments that both clubs agreed when the transfer was made, and he has not agreed a new deal yet, with his contract up next summer.

To risk not losing Dembele on a free transfer, January could be an ideal time for the Catalan giants to sell and make back some of that money.

The Verdict: Avoid

With 18 goals scored in the Premier League so far this season, attack is not really the Magpies’ main problem – that is more than Wolves and Tottenham for example, who both sit comfortably in the top eight.

Of course, Dembele is a quality player on his day, a World Cup winner who Barcelona president Joan Laporta claims is even ‘better than Mbappe’, however, he is very injury-prone and on big wages.

Thus, the money available to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium would be better off improving a leaky defence instead, at least as the immediate priority in January.

In other news, find out what huge transfer offer NUFC have made to sign this ‘force of nature’ here!