Five players Newcastle could try and sign from Barcelona

Newcastle’s takeover has shocked the footballing world, as well as alarming many with the highly problematic ethics of its owners, and no doubt will be a large discussion point in this coming decade in football.

One of Newcastle’s first priorities following the takeover would be to bolster the squad to avoid relegation come May, and one place they could certainly shop is FC Barcelona.

The Catalan giants have had a torrid second half of the 2010s due to gross financial mismanagement and have found themselves in reportedly eight figures of debt. This has made many players at the club open to sale, and here we compile five players who Newcastle could offload from Barcelona in the January Transfer Window.

1# - Phillipe Coutinho

When Barcelona signed Coutinho for £120m from Liverpool in January of 2018, both the player and the club would have expected the Brazilian playmaker to become a big success at the Nou Camp. Multiple injuries, such as a reputed outer meniscus that ruled him out for 33 games, and unsuccessful loan spells have meant that Coutinho’s reputation has nosedived in the past three years. With his wages totalling around £385,000 a week, Barcelona would welcome a move.

Coutinho can play as an attacking midfielder, as well as being able to occupy the left wing, which would give Newcastle a top attacking talent in those two areas. The former Liverpool player's top attribute would be his outstanding technical ability, with his dribbling and technique both being outstanding. Coutinho also has a good eye for a pass and this creativity would bolster Newcastle immensely. Coutinho would also be a marquee name for Newcastle with him already establishing himself for Liverpool as a top Premier League talent.

It would certainly be a big statement of intent from Newcastle and would also help improve the first team squad immensely. Whilst Coutinho would come cheap in relation to his transfer fee, his wages would not, and this combined with his record of injuries would be a huge hurdle when more reliable talents such as Jesse Lingard or James Maddison are potential options. Coutinho may be worth the risk however if he gets near his best.

2#+3# - Samuel Umtiti and Clement Lenglet

Both Umtiti and Lenglet have not seen the gametime that they would have hoped for when coming into Barcelona in 2016 (Umtiti) and 2018 (Lenglet) respectively. Both players share similarities which warrant their joint inclusion in this list. They are both quick left sided centre-backs, both have been capped by France, and both players have a good range of passing. Lenglet however is overall a better player, as he edges Umtiti in almost every attribute, as well as being more appealing considering he is marginally younger than Umtiti. Lenglet could also be more useful should Newcastle play a system with three centre-backs, as Lenglet’s greatest attribute is his covering ability which would give Newcastle a player with the ability to make up for defensive errors with his last-gasp tackles.

Newcastle, if they choose to shop at Barcelona for a defender, would have two interesting options to improve their left side of defence. Umtiti would be cheaper due to his contract running up in 2023, however, Lenglet would not be too expensive either given Barcelona’s financial struggles and he is arguably the better player. Newcastle do have better options they could seek out though, with James Tarkowski and Sven Botman being two players who could be ideal singings, with Tarkowski having plenty of Premier League experience, especially in relegation fights, and Botman being a very promising talent at 21 that Newcastle could grab for a bargain price given Ligue 1's financial issues. However, Lenglet would not be a bad option, and his signing could help Newcastle become a far more defensively solid team.

4# - Sergi Roberto

Sergi Roberto is a La Masia academy graduate who has seen a fair bit of gametime relative to his ability. A lot of this is due to Roberto’s versatility, with him being deployed as a right-back, right-winger, central-midfielder and defensive midfielder. Roberto has plenty of topflight experience in La Liga and in the Champions League, and he had seen first-team football as a right-back before the signing of Sergino Dest. Currently, Roberto is yet to sign a new contract, and his current one ends this summer, which makes him a potential bargain for Newcastle. His signing would not be as headline grabbing as the previous names mentioned, hence his muted inclusion, however his ability to be such a versatile player, as well as Roberto likely being able to gain a starting place down at right-back over Javi Manquillo and Emil Krafth means that Roberto would be a very sensible transfer.

5# - Ousmane Dembele

Dembele was one of the world’s brightest young talents in his only season at Borussia Dortmund, and his £120m transfer to Barcelona in 2017 looked to be the moment where Dembele was going to be a superstar. This however hasn’t been the case, with Dembele’s career being destroyed by injury thus far. Dembele suffered an injury a month in at his time at Barcelona, and that would sum up most of his time in Catalunya. Dembele is also currently injured, and is expected to recover in late October.

Injury issues aside, Dembele would be an absolute force on the right wing for Newcastle. Dembele is two-footed, he has ridiculous pace and dribbling technique, as well as having a good range of passing. Dembele’s biggest weakness is his finishing ability, which has been way too inconsistent for a player of his level. That being said, Dembele is a complete nightmare for defenders, and he puts up good numbers in terms of goal contributions for Barcelona when he plays. Dembele’s contract runs up in 2022, which would also mean that he would come for a greatly reduced transfer fee, although Dembele would no doubt demand a high pay packet. The Frenchmen would be a massive risk for Newcastle given his injury record and his wages, however the thought of Dembele, Saint-Maximin and Wilson as a front three could be frightening enough to make Newcastle take the risk.