AC Milan's 3-1 defeat to Roma over the weekend officially ends the Rossoneri's hopes of playing any European football next season. Giving Newcastle United's previous interest in a host of San Siro players, that development will have piqued the interest of some recruitment chiefs at St James' Park.
Milan lost the Coppa Italia final to Bologna earlier this month and Sunday's loss to Claudio Ranieri's side means the red and black outfit can only finish as high as seventh in Serie A this season. With no European football and a star-studded dressing room, that is bad news for manager Sergio Conceicao with departures expected this summer.
“Those who work at Milan must understand what they did well and what they didn’t. I will do it. We need to sit down and talk about what Milan will be in the future," the head coach said this week.
Newcastle have had previous success signing Milan stars, with Sandro Tonali now flourishing on Tyneside after a tricky period of adaptation. The Magpies have also kept a close eye on other talented options in recent windows, despite being hamstrung by financial restrictions.
Fikayo Tomori has his admirers at Newcastle, while defensive partner Malick Thiaw was pursued last summer. Christian Pulisic was a target during his spell with Chelsea, while the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Tammy Abraham have been tentatively linked in the past.
Meanwhile, Manchester City appear poised to raid Milan for Tijjani Reijnders and Theo Hernandez is being linked with Real Madrid. This, as Newcastle look to 'take advantage' of their rivals when the summer window rolls around.
Free of imminent PSR danger, [Howe has publicly spoken of a summer full of potential investment](https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/exciting-newcastle-united-transfer-update-31656965) as Newcastle look to make up for lost time after three successive windows of limited spending. Premier League clubs who need to sell will be no doubt be targeted - but the north east outfit will also be keeping a close eye on the continent as clubs like Milan brace themselves for unhappy players seeking an exit.
“The PSR deadline plays a huge role for clubs – both those clubs with PSR issues and those without – because those without may potentially look to try to sign players," Howe said earlier this month. “They will look to take advantage of other clubs, as clubs did to us last year, quite rightly.
“It’s a really interesting dynamic and one that we’re really aware of and that we’ll try to use to our advantage if we can. I can’t go into the details of that, but no doubt we’ve got people at the club who are working very hard behind the scenes on it.”