Newcastle’s Miguel Almirón is the subject of interest from the Saudi Pro League’s Al-Shabab. If the Riyadh club come up with Newcastle’s £30m valuation for the player, who turns 30 next month, it will leave their majority Saudi owners with a dilemma.
Selling Almirón could make financial sense for Newcastle as they strive to create room to invest in new players while remaining within the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR). Yet with Eddie Howe’s slender squad debilitated by injuries, losing the winger would make sense only if a suitable replacement were lined up.
The same applies in the case of Callum Wilson, Howe’s England striker, who turns 32 next month and has attracted interest from Atlético Madrid and, fleetingly, Milan this month. However, the situation is slightly different with Kieran Trippier given that Newcastle possess another outstanding right-back in Tino Livramento.
Trippier trained with Newcastle on Monday as the club waited to see whether Bayern Munich would improve their bid to transport to Bavaria. Although the England right-back is understood to be keen on joining Thomas Tuchel’s side, where he would be reunited with his former Tottenham teammates Harry Kane and Eric Dier, Trippier is not expected to cause problems if he ends up remaining on Tyneside.
Given that Newcastle already possess another outstanding right-back in Tino Livramento, Trippier’s situation is slightly different. Yet while Tuchel has made plain his admiration for the full-back, but it remains to be seen whether Bayern will produce an offer capable of persuading Newcastle to sell a player who cost them £12m two years ago and commands wages of about £120,000 a week.
Premier League rivals may raise eyebrows at the idea of Newcastle potentially circumventing PSR by selling Almirón to a Saudi club but there is nothing in the regulations to prevent this. Al-Shabab, six times Saudi champions, are not owned by the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which holds an 80% stake in the Tyneside club.
