Mbappe and Neymar to leave PSG for Newcastle?

Cameron Smith

• 22 Apr 2022 11:17 BST
• 3 min read

Newcastle United have been linked with some of the world's best players since their takeover by a Saudi Arabian consortium.

The club now have the richest owners in the Premier League, by some margin, and as a result have reportedly been planning moves for stars around Europe.

Bruno Guimaraes and Kieran Trippier were two of the signings brought in during the January transfer window in a bid to prevent relegation, which has been achieved with the side currently up to 11th place in the Premier League.

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However, this summer is expected to be a huge step towards bringing Newcastle closer to the 'top six' teams in the country.

Big names like Duvan Zapata have been linked, and Newcastle are readying themselves for a hub of transfer activity.

The anticipated madness of this transfer window hasn't affected the current crop of players, however, according to goalkeeper Martin Dubravka, who is one name reportedly set to be replaced by a new signing this summer.

The shot-stopper has revealed that seeing stories about his replacement is "normal when a takeover like this happens. There have been so many players linked with our club, so as a player I'm just focused on my job."

What has been said?

Dubravka joined Newcastle in 2018, and the 33-year-old is excited about the future of the club, even revealing two huge players that could be joining the Tyneside club.

"Obviously I've heard names like [Kylian] Mbappe and Neymar," he admitted. "I don't know if it's possible to bring names like this now, but maybe in the future."

Newcastle were linked with Mbappe when news of the takeover broke and given his unknown future at Paris Saint-Germain, they could swoop, especially given their likely rivals for the player would be Real Madrid who have both Vinicius Junior and Karim Benzema playing in the two positions in which Mbappe most regularly features for PSG.

It's unlikely either Mbappe or Neymar end of joining Newcastle this summer, but Dubravka is hopeful for the club's future. "I'm glad that I can be part of the project now and hopefully we can achieve good things," he said.

"I think the special thing is that everyone wants to be part of it [the project]. Everyone wants to be part of the club that is building their name now. Everyone know Newcastle is a massive club from their history, but people would like to put the name back [to the top]," he added. "The fans want it, the players want it, everyone wants to put Newcastle back where they deserve to be and that's on top I think."