Newcastle United are in with a shout of signing Barcelona winger Raphinha, according to Sport.

The Catalan publication claims the Magpies made their first approach for the Brazilian international a month ago and, while he didn’t accept the club’s proposal, he “did not shut the door” either.

Barca need to raise €100m (£86m) before the end of June, but they are finding it hard to sell the three players (Franck Kessie, Ferran Torres and Ansu Fati) they have made available for transfer.

That means that they could be forced into offloading Raphinha. With that in mind, Sport report that the Magpies “could end up convincing” the winger to move to them if his club have to get rid of him.

How much would Raphinha cost?

The 26-year-old was signed by Barcelona for €65m (including add-ons) last year, and it is believed the La Liga champions would want to make a profit on the amount they paid.

Newcastle’s offer would reportedly have to be in excess of €80m (£69m) if they want to secure Raphinha’s services.

Will there be competition for Raphinha?

Both Chelsea and Arsenal made attempts to snap up the Brazilian when he was still at Leeds, but the player held out for a switch to the Camp Nou.

There is a chance that, at least, one of these teams will re-enter the race for Raphinha’s signature if it does become apparent that Barca are willing to offload him.

For now, ot does appear that Newcastle have made the most headway in negotiations, having registered their interest, but it’s clear that Raphinha’s preference would be to stay where he is.

Things can, of course, move quickly in the transfer market but, for the time being, Magpies supporters should not be expecting the winger to be heading to St James’ Park.