Newcastle yet to move for player Eddie Howe thought was real ‘danger’ last year

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The name of Harvey Barnes is never far way from that of Newcastle United right now, but Sky Sports have claimed that the Magpies are yet to make their move.

Sky Sports journalist Keith Downie has said this morning that Newcastle are yet to have made a formal approach for Leicester City‘s Harvey Barnes but he has confirmed that there is a genuine interest in the 25-year-old.

After tweeting about the Barnes link, Downie reinforced what he said when speaking outside Newcastle’s Benton training ground, saying: “No bid has been made to Leicester City and no formal talks have taken place between either club at this stage.

Eddie Howe singled out Barnes as Leicester’s danger man

“He is a player Eddie Howe really likes. Even as far as last season whenever Newcastle played Leicester It’s my understanding that Howe made a point of telling his players he is the danger player in that Leicester City side.

“It is a case of Newcastle having registered interest but no formal talks or formal bids between clubs or any talks between the player and Newcastle either.

“It is one to watch, he’s a player high up on Newcastle’s wanted list.”

Things may move quickly on this one, still, especially given the reports stating that Barnes is keen on a move to Newcastle. The sticking point will likely come from Leicester playing hardball over price as they did with James Maddison for so long before Newcastle walked away.

Barnes is an upgrade on what we have already at Newcastle

There’s still some fan division when it comes to Barnes with some thinking he’s not at the level we should be aiming for while other see him as a big upgrade on what we already have.

It sounds like Eddie Howe doesn’t need much convincing, though. If what Keith Downie said about Howe highlighting him as the ‘danger’ for Leicester, it makes you wonder just how legitimate the links to James Maddison were if Howe was such an admirer of Barnes.

Barnes’ goal contribution numbers over the last few seasons certainly show him to be an upgrade on what we have, his stats versus those of arguably our best winger, Allan Saint-Maximin, show that he’d be a fantastic signing.