Newcastle United ‘agree’ to sell player Eddie Howe ‘loves’ ahead of season-opener with Aston Villa

Newcastle United have been all-but forced into selling a player Eddie Howe ‘loves’ ahead of their season-opener with Aston Villa.

The countdown is on for the start of the Premier League season, with just over three weeks between now and Villa’s curtain-raiser against Newcastle. It’s a mouth-watering first game for both teams, who are both being tipped to make a run at the top four in the coming campaign.

That is, in part, due to the level of strengthening both clubs are managing so far this summer, with Newcastle spending Sandro Tonali and Harvey Barnes.

Meanwhile, Villa have spent big on Pau Torres, signed Youri Tielemans on the cheap, and they are expected to make another big-money signing in the form of a winger within the next couple of weeks.

But unlike Villa, Newcastle have some serious Financial Fair Play concerns due to the sudden increase in their spending across the last couple of years. With new ultra-wealthy owners, the Magpies have spent big without significant income increase, at least until their qualification for the Champions League ahead of this season, which will bag them significant profit.

Still, FFP rules operate over a running five-year period, and the reality is that Newcastle must sell some players if they want to balance the books on the back of their spending, and that factor will see them lose much-loved Allan Saint-Maximin ahead of the start of the Premier League season.

Fabrizio Romano has tweeted: “Al Ahli will complete Riyad Mahrez deal today and then time to seal next one — Allan Saint-Maximin from Newcastle. Final fee will be around €30m — after Newcastle signed Harvey Barnes, time to sell with Saint-Maximin on his way to Saudi soon.”

The update comes after Newcastle boss Howe showed a real reluctance to sell Allan, saying: “It’s difficult for me to speak for him, but he hasn’t asked to leave. There’s been no issue between him and any of us coaches. We all love him.

“If he does leave, we’d lose him with a very heavy heart. He’s someone we love working with, he’s a difference-maker, we’ve really had a strong working relationship, and it’ll be sad if he leaves.”

Asked about the FFP factor, Howe added: “Maxi is the player that’s generating the interest. FFP is a new dynamic which really came to the fore after my first window here when we knew it would impact us. Player trading is a key part of it - you can’t hit it, if you don’t trade. We’re forced to trade a player this window.

“If the deal didn’t go through, I’d be delighted. It would obviously impact our ability to bring any more players in, and then we potentially might have to sell another player. That’s the way that Financial Fair Play has hit us.”