Newcastle United want to recoup as much of the £38million they paid for Harvey Barnes as possible amid interest from Aston Villa.
Barnes has endured another strange season at Newcastle United despite his relatively good record.
Constantly criticised on social media and taken in and out of the first team under Eddie Howe, he finishes the season on 16 goals in 57 appearances across all competitions.
The major frustration is that Barnes can be brilliant at times, but consistency has long been an issue.
Still, his goals have been enough to attract interest from Aston Villa.
Newcastle want close to £38m for Barnes
According to The Daily Mail, Unai Emery’s side are once again interested in the former Leicester forward.
Villa wanted to sign Barnes in 2025 and their interest has not waned, with Emery plotting to build on a successful season in which he won the Europa League.
Balancing a European campaign with Premier League success? That must be nice!
It’s claimed that Newcastle want to recoup the large majority of the £38million they paid for him back in 2023 if they were to sell.
They claim that the 28-year-old might be attracted by the idea of playing Champions League football next season, as well as potentially moving back to the Midlands.
In any other summer, interest in Barnes would be most welcome.
He has just two years to go on his contract and selling a player approaching 30 for big money makes a lot of financial sense.
Still, the fact that Anthony Gordon is also expected to leave Newcastle does complicate matters.
Newcastle could go from having two very good left wingers (at least in theory) to none in the same summer.
The Gordon saga has to be taken into account here. Newcastle could feasibly raise a lot of money by selling the two of them, but that would leave them very weak in a key position heading into next season.