Journalist now suggests NUFC should sell £39m star to raise funds for squad revamp

Profit and Sustainability Rules are still a persistent worry for Newcastle United despite the Magpies managing to avoid breaching the Premier League's restrictive rules in the summer.

Newcastle had to sell Yankuba Minteh and Elliot Anderson and release Dan Ashworth from his garden to avoid breaching PSR in the summer before going on to have a very quiet transfer window.

While the rules are set for an overhaul ahead of next season, Newcastle need players through the door in January ideally, but the club is still crying poverty.

Obviously the club is in a healthy financial position, and without PSR in the way, there'd be no limit to what they could spend, but the rules are really putting the stranglehold on what the club can actually spend without selling players first.

newcastleunited.com

Simon Bird has suggested Newcastle should sell Harvey Barnes

Miguel Almiron is expected to be offloaded in January as the club tries for the third successive window to move on the Paraguayan. Kieran Trippier could also follow Miggy out the door.

These two transfers would raise some funds and free up a chunk of the wage bill, but The Mirror's Simon Bird has told the Everything Is Black And White podcast that Newcastle should look to sell their current top scorer Harvey Barnes to raise a big sum of money.

"I'm pretty sure Harvey Barnes is fairly unhappy at the minute in terms of not starting every game and not starting in his favourite position because we know his favourite position is left wing.

"If you're Harvey Barnes, you want to play and you've got the talent to play, and he's scored goals this year.

"Now, Newcastle, one of the weird things about the transfers in the last couple of years is they had Anthony Gordon and then they signed Harvey Barnes as well. Why do that? Why spend that much money on two people in the same position? That's what I didn't quite understand other than Harvey Barnes is a good player.

"So if you're looking to raise money, will someone take Harvey Barnes off you for £40 million - £45 million? And Newcastle make a profit on him?"

We're not sure selling Barnes would be the right move

Harvey Barnes is an odd one. He has talent for days, that's never been in question, but when he starts games he rarely has as much impact as he does coming off the bench. But after spending £39 million to bring him in from Leicester City is he, and indeed are we as fans, happy to see him ride the bench and make late cameos to change games?

Why can't he perform over 90 minutes how he does for those 20 minutes at the end of a game? It's maybe a bit of an unfair judgement given his performances this season where he has found himself in the starting lineup more often and is currently the club's top scorer - although with this misfiring side, that's nothing to brag about.

We can see Simon Bird's logic, and if the club are desperate for extra funds it could be an option, but we'd rather not sacrifice someone who we know is a good player and such a proven game changer.

There are other players way higher up on the 'get them outta here' list, however combined they may not bring in as much as selling Barnes would.