Journalist Dean Jones has revealed that Newcastle United genuinely "like" Neymar as they want to sign a "marquee player" this summer.
What's the latest Newcastle transfer news?
It seems as though fans can expect to see the Magpies spend big this summer. After all, their Saudi-back ownership has made money no object for Eddie Howe and co.
Adding to that, the club looked almost certain to be playing Champions League football next season and that will make Newcastle a much more attractive prospect for targets across the globe.
Indeed, it could unlock a whole new level of possible signings and one such name to have been linked in recent times is PSG winger Neymar.
Eddie Howe was even recently quizzed about signing the Brazilian, while Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo was also touted. The manager played down the rumours though.
He told BBC Sport: "We could not be able to come close to affording those players.
"They are the best players in the world. We are never going to be in a position currently to afford those transfer fees and wages, so we need to go underneath and find them young and develop them into the players they can be."
Despite this public claim, however, when speaking on the latest episode of Chasing Green Arrows, insider Jones revealed he'd heard something different behind the scenes at Newcastle.
Indeed, he said (19:50): “I did actually speak to someone you know about Neymar – I saw someone just talking about it in the [Youtube] comments.
"And I'm not saying it's going to happen because it probably won't, but they like him.
"But Newcastle want to go that one step and sign their first marquee player. They can afford the transfer fee. They're going to be in the Champions League. They want another wide forward. There's a lot of things there. They've got a couple of Brazilian lads in the squad already.
"He is on 30 million euros a year at PSG and he's got a contract for another four years. That's the problem.”
Could Neymar end up at Newcastle?
While Neymar – previously hailed a "magician" by Jones – certainly wouldn't come cheap – after all, he earns a reported £961k-p/w (over €1m-p/w) – it seems disingenuous from Howe to claim Newcastle can't afford him.
After all, thanks to their new owners, the Magpies are now today considered the richest club in world football and so can technically afford him if PSG can.
Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean Howe would want to add the 31-year-old to his ranks – especially amid constant talk in the media of the player's love for late-night partying.
But with the Premier League club seemingly at least considering the player as an option, it might be unwise to completely rule this one out just yet.
