23 January 2024 , 11:14
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Newcastle are preparing for the departure of Miguel Almiron by eyeing up Nottingham Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White.
The Paraguayan has remained a regular for Eddie Howe, starting the majority of games, but a move to the Middle East with Al-Shabab is now on the cards. Almiron's exit is likely to be concluded before January ends and already the Magpies are making plans for who they could pursue.
Gibbs-White is on Newcastle's radar after a standout season for Forest, in which he scored in their win over Manchester United last month. But those at the City Ground are likely to resist any offers for one of their prized assets, reports The Sun.
Everton's Amadou Onana is another man on their hit list as they look to bolster their ranks in the middle of the park. Newcastle are braced for bids for Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton, who are both attracting interest from suitors around Europe.
Almiron moved to St James' Park for £20million back in 2019 and his exit will not cause any controversy because Al-Shabab are one of the Saudi Pro League sides not owned by Newcastle's majority shareholders, the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund.
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Newcastle are looking to balance their books to remain within the Premier League's rules. Despite the huge wealth of their owners, the Magpies have had to invest steadily and now need to sell before they can continue buying players.
Morgan Gibbs-White is a leading light at Nottingham ForestCEO Darren Eales has said: "On any player, at any time, it depends on circumstances. It's difficult to hypothesis but, if we're offered £1bn for one of those players, then no one could argue against that making sense. Any decision we make will always be against the backdrop of the medium to long-term benefit for the club."
Boss Eddie Howe echoed that sentiment and said recently: "I don't think there's any surprise in that because every football club will have to trade now with Financial Fair Play being such a prominent part of football.
"So selling players and trading is part of what every football club is going to have to do and we’re no different. So whether it's our top players as you quote, that remains to be seen but selling players and trading will be part of football going forward now I think."