Newcastle could be in pole position to sign Philippe Coutinho from Barcelona this summer.

That’s per France Football who claim the best bet at the moment to sign the creative midfielder is the Magpies.

Any deal that’s concluded will depend on the club’s takeover, but according to the source, negotiations have already begun with Coutinho’s agent over a possible deal.

They seem to believe very strongly in the project being built at St James’ Park and despite the takeover not yet being wrapped up, they want their player to be a part of it.

France Football claim that Everton and Tottenham are also in the race to sign the former Liverpool man, a player that’s been linked with Chelsea in recent times too.

It seems unlikely that the Brazilian will remain at Bayern Munich, where he’s playing on loan from parent club Barcelona.

Coutinho signed for the Catalan giants in 2018 for a staggering £142m.

GIVE ME SPORT’S Matt Dawson says...

No potential price was mentioned in France Football’s report but given the amount he was sold for only two years ago, it seems unlikely to think Newcastle will be able to afford this deal if a takeover doesn’t go through. At present, Transfermarkt value him at £50.4m.

A potential acquisition from the Saudi Public Investment Fund has been in the water for a while now and landing a player of Coutinho’s calibre early on in their reign would be quite the way to start things off.

This is a man capable of lighting up the Premier League, just as he did for Liverpool over two years ago.

Before departing for Spanish shores, he scored 20 times over two Premier League campaigns, contributing to 13 assists in that time. His remarkable knack of scoring goals from long-range was particularly eye-catching.

Under Steve Bruce, the Toon Army haven’t had a great deal to get them off their feet. However, the addition of someone like Coutinho would surely do more than that – he is a world-class player on his day.