Journalist Liam Kennedy insists that Newcastle United do hold an interest in signing Ousmane Dembele from Barcelona in January after their takeover from Saudi Arabia and the Public Investment Fund.
Noted transfer insider Fabrizio Romano has claimed that the Magpies made an approach to sign the France international a few weeks ago but that there is confidence at Barca that he will commit his future to the Camp Nou club.
What's the latest with Dembele?
The France international has been something of a disappointment at Barcelona since his huge move from Borussia Dortmund.
Barcelona paid a massive fee of £135.5m to secure his signature but, since then, he has somewhat struggled to live up to that price tag.
He has made 125 appearances for the club in total, scoring 30 goals and registering 22 assists, while he has again struggled for minutes this season.
Dembele has played just four times in La Liga this term as he has been hampered by a knee injury, although he did provide an assist in the recent 3-2 win over Elche.
The 24-year-old has also won 27 caps for his country and Kennedy has confirmed that there is genuine interest from Newcastle in securing his signature.
He claims to have heard from "the Saudi side" that they want to secure a marquee acquisition and that Dembele could be seen as exactly that.
However, the appointment of Xavi as Barcelona's new manager may well have complicated things.
What did Kennedy say?
He told GiveMeSport: “Dembele is a name that has been mentioned to me. It was mentioned to me probably around a week after the takeover was done.
"I think Dembele is coming, from the noises I’m getting, from the Saudi side. I think that may be the marquee type thing that they might go for.
"I think there were a lot of talks before Xavi came in at Barcelona. I think he seems to, from his noises, rate the player more than the previous manager so I’m not sure how alive that one is.”
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Is Dembele good enough?
This might be arguable.
The winger has been struggling with injuries but when he is fit, he's an explosive presence.
Per fbref, he is comparable to the likes of Neymar, Lionel Messi, and Raheem Sterling in terms of his playing style.
He is in the top one per cent of attackers from Europe's top five leagues for progressive carries per game, and is in the top five per cent for shots taken, touches in the attacking penalty area, and progressive passes received.
In addition to that, Dembele is in the top 10 per cent for dribbles completed and shot-creating actions.
This is a remarkable forward and if there's even a sniff of Newcastle being able to bring him in, they need to get the deal done.