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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Louise Taylor

Miguel Almirón on Al-Shabab’s radar as Newcastle transfer quandaries pile up

Miguel Almirón
Selling Miguel Almirón would only make sense for Newcastle if a suitable replacement were lined up. Photograph: Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Getty Images

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.

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