Newcastle United could exploit Aston Villa's PSR situation for Jacob Ramsey but it could cost them £39m winger too

Aston Villa are in a similar situation this year as Newcastle United were going into last summer's transfer window in that they need to sell players to repair a hole in their accounts to avoid a points deduction for breaching Profit and Sustainability Rules.

Much like how Newcastle had to sanction the sales of Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh, it's believed Aston Villa will have to sell a high-profile player in the early part of this summer's transfer window to ensure compliance.

It's an absolute joke that a club like Villa has to do this after Newcastle went through it last year. Our situation should have proved that PSR isn't working, yet here we are again.

But, much like Nottingham Forest and Brighton took advantage of our plight last year, Newcastle could do the same at Aston Villa this year.

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Newcastle like Jacob Ramsey, Aston Villa like Harvey Barnes ...

We suggested the other day that Jacob Ramsey could be a player Newcastle should look at if Villa need to sell, and it seems we're not alone in this thinking.

Craig Hope has written in his Newcastle Confidential column for the Daily Mail that Ramsey would be of interest, however, we may need to sweeten the deal by throwing in Harvey Barnes.

“The word in the game is that Villa will have to sell at least one. Newcastle like Jacob Ramsey, but could they afford to spend a decent chunk of their budget on a midfielder? I’m not so sure, unless the deal was manufactured in a way to suit all parties. One to watch, especially amid the Barnes interest.”

Would Jacob Ramsey want to come to another club to sit on the bench?

We're not sure how we feel about this one, as Harvey Barnes has shown lately that he clearly has what it takes to be at Newcastle, but Ramsey is only 23 and has bags of potential.

Ramsey has also been tipped for England and seems more likely to get that call-up than Harvey Barnes. Not that that really affects Newcastle, indeed, if Harvey Barnes doesn't get called up for England, that just means he's less likely to get injured.

Also, Jacob Ramsey will be well aware of Anthony Gordon's position in the side and would he leave Villa to sit on the bench at Newcastle? We're not so sure.

There are definite pros and cons to this one, and it's worth keeping an eye on. If Barnes hadn't had his bloom lately, we'd say it was a no-brainer, but now we're not so sure.