Report: Newcastle to consider selling Bruno Guimaraes to fund summer spending spree

As we said yesterday, this is the time in the football calendar when football journalists not tasked with covering international games have to find something to write about.

This is how crazy transfer stories based on nuggets of truth or leaps of logic that could be believed take on a life of their own and Football Insider's Peter O'Rourke has got us off with a beauty this morning.

The thing with this one is that a big part of it makes sense and could actually happen. The oft-mentioned "sources" are at play again, which is journalist code for "we made this up" or "some guy who walked past the training ground one time said".

We're not digging out Peter O'Rourke here, by the way, he is actually a very good journalist, but he also knows how to generate those all-important clicks.

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Reports claim it will be Bruno out and four players in this summer

O'Rourke claims that sources have told him that Newcastle will be forced to sell one of their biggest stars this summer. Right there, there's no mention of Bruno Guimaraes, so we're already onto a logic leap with the story.

He goes on to say that Newcastle could cash in on Guimaraes who has a £100million release clause and that could help fund four incoming transfers. There's nothing untrue here, we could do that.

We know that financial restrictions have hampered Newcastle's ability to grow as quickly as top sides before them, we know that the squad desperately needs addressing, and we also know that there's plenty of interest in Bruno Guimaraes from the Premier League and Europe.

It's an easy leap to make, and what's terrifying is just how easily this could come to pass.

Do we think it will happen?

Our take (hope) is that we get at least another season out of Bruno. He's settled here, and just had another kid who he claims, like his first, is a Geordie.

There's no doubt he'll be unhappy with how this season has gone, but everyone at the club will be, and that doesn't mean they'll all turn their back at the first sign of trouble. If things don't improve next season then it'll be a different story.

Eddie Howe and the board above him know what a special talent they have in Bruno Guimaraes and the aim has always been to build the team around him.

Of course, there will come a time when we sell a big player but that will come when they've served their purpose and we have adequate cover, or maybe if an offer that's too good to refuse is plonked on the table. And that could be this summer. Bruno's release clause is a worry, but we have to also remember that he has to agree to move too, and there's still a good chance he opts to stay put.