Newcastle are facing a serious amount of interest in their star players this summer, with the reliable Mark Douglas sharing an update.
Newcastle bow out of Champions League after Barcelona humiliation
The Champions League dream is over.
Barcelona put on one of the performances of the season at Camp Nou last night, tearing Newcastle apart 7-2 to progress 8-3 on aggregate. It was a desperately chastening night for Eddie Howe's side after a first half that had briefly suggested an improbable upset was on the cards.
newcastle applaud their fans at the nou camp
Anthony Elanga, of all people, had kept Newcastle in it with two well-taken goals in a breathless opening 45 minutes that swung one way and then the other.
At 2-2, the tie was alive.
Then Lamine Yamal drilled home a penalty in stoppage time at the end of the first half and Barcelona never looked back. Raphinha, Fermin Lopez and Robert Lewandowski — twice — completed an emphatic dismantling in the second period. Four unanswered goals. Newcastle were overwhelmed.
It was a cruel end to a campaign that had given the Tyneside club so much to be proud of.
Reaching the last 16 of the Champions League was a genuine achievement for a club that not so long ago was scrambling for survival.
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Howe has built something real at St James' Park. But the manner of this exit, combined with a league campaign that has left them well short of a top-four finish, means the summer ahead could be the most turbulent since the Saudi takeover.
Because the vultures are circling — and the most aggressive of them is wearing red.
Arsenal are serious about raiding Newcastle this summer, with multiple outlets now confirming that the Gunners have been tracking Sandro Tonali and Tino Livramento.
Newcastle's Sandro Tonali
Arsenal view Livramento as a top target for the right-back position, with Ben White's ongoing injury problems prompting Mikel Arteta to identify a long-term solution.
The 23-year-old, contracted at Newcastle until 2028, is valued at above £60 million — but that fee could even rise given his performances this season.
Tonali, meanwhile, is wanted as midfield depth, and Fabrizio Romano has confirmed Arsenal are keeping a close eye on the Italian, with Man City and Man United also circling for the former AC Milan star.
Reports also surfaced this week that Man United were in 'advanced talks' to sign Bruno Guimaraes, but the reliable Mark Douglas has shared an update on all three of these developing stories.
Arsenal eye double Newcastle swoop as Mark Douglas shares Bruno update
Douglas says that Arteta's side are genuine admirers of both Tonali and Livramento heading into the summer window.
Tonali is wanted by several clubs — City and United are among those keen on the Italian — while a lack of progress on Livramento's contract negotiations means the 23-year-old right-back may well be available.
Newcastle's Tino Livramento
The good news, for Geordies at least, is that multiple Newcastle sources have told the I Paper and Douglas that the claims of Guimaraes being on the verge of a United move came as news to them.
Guimaraes was indeed in Spain — not to engineer an exit, but to support his teammates in person as he steps up his recovery from injury. There are no advanced talks. No imminent departure.
Bruno-Guimaraes
But with Champions League football now gone for another season, and Arsenal, City and United all sniffing around their best players, Newcastle know the summer battle to hold this squad together has already begun.
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