Newcastle’s first transfer window since the takeover is a huge one in their bid to stave off relegation and take steps towards a new era.
In La Liga, it is also a huge January for Barcelona, as club legend Xavi has the chance to alter his squad in the transfer market.
How are the two connected? A report by the Athletic claims that Barca are hoping that Newcastle, with their new-found wealth, can help them out this month.
Barcelona are apparently looking for buyers for Philippe Coutinho, Samuel Umtiti, Ousmane Dembele, Sergi Roberto, Neto, Martin Braithwaite and others.
That is because they need to balance their books and offload players in order to register new faces, such as Ferran Torres, who has already arrived from Manchester City.
Club president Joan Laporta has already been making big noises about Barcelona being ‘back’ in the market for big players.
But for that to happen, they need a club capable of paying the huge wages their outcasts are earning to come in and take them off their hands.
With Newcastle going into their maiden market among the super-rich, they might be tempted by the types of players Barca are offering. But they shouldn’t be.
Newcastle need hungry players on their way up who will give everything to take the club to where their new owners want them to be.
In the shorter term, they need to be up for a relegation fight and prepared for the demands of English football.
The players Barcelona are offloading would only be coming for a payday, forced to leave because they have been cut adrift at the Nou Camp and nobody else can afford their wages.
Those are the types of players Newcastle need to avoid and getting the right sorts of characters in represents one of the major challenges this month.
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