Kalvin Phillips has been given the greenlight to leave Man City (Photo: Getty)
Newcastle United may drop out of the race to sign Manchester City outcast Kalvin Phillips in January, according to reports.
Phillips is expected to depart the Etihad this transfer window after Pep Guardiola admitted the England International was not in his plans.
There has been much interest in the defensive midfielder who is keen to leave City just 18 months after his £42million move from Leeds, so he can secure regular game time ahead of Euro 2024.
It is said that Newcastle, Juventus and Fulham are the leading contenders for his signature.
The Magpies were initially ‘confident’ they would land the 28-year-old, with Eddie Howe desperate for reinforcements to aid his injury ravaged squad.
But despite Phillips being keen on moving to St. James’ Park, talkSPORT report that the potential transfer is on the verge of collapse due to City’s demands.
The Citizens want their Premier League rivals to pay at least £5million to take the player on loan with an obligation to buy at the end of the season.
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe is desperate for reinforcements this January (Photo: Getty)
It is the second part of the deal that Newcastle have an issue with as they do not have the funds to commit to any permanent signings and their Saudi Arabian owners don’t want to risk breaching any Financial Fair Play rules.
The report goes onto say that the club’s financial situation is so dire that they are weighing up whether to sell one of their prized assets like Bruno Guimaraes, Sven Botman or Alexander Isak in order to raise funds.
They would look to follow the model set by Aston Villa, where they sold star player Jack Grealish to City for £100m and used the money to rebuild their squad.
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It’s proven successful, with many of the players bought through Grealish’s sale now helping Unai Emery’s side challenge for the league title.
With 10 players out injured or suspended, Newcastle will be looking to do whatever business they can quickly as they face a tough run of fixtures in January, namely against City and Villa, as well as an FA Cup clash against arch-rivals Sunderland.
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The Magpies were ‘confident’ they’d sign the England midfielder.