Leicester City could ‘solve’ Newcastle United’s PSR worries as £15m transfer links emerge

Leicester City have shown interest in signing Newcastle United midfielder Sean Longstaff this summer. The Foxes are currently managerless as they prepare for their return to the top-flight after one season in the Championship and Longstaff has reportedly emerged as a potential option for them this summer.

The 26-year-old has been a regular under Eddie Howe at St James’ Park and, despite playing the majority of the season with a foot injury, made 46 appearances in all competitions for the Magpies last season, including 35 in the Premier League. According to reports, Leicester have been tracking Longstaff for ‘a number of months’ and could firm up their interest into a concrete bid for him when the summer transfer window opens.

Leicester, however, have a threat of a points deduction hanging over them for breaches of PSR and could begin the season on minus points. Furthermore, they, along with Newcastle, Aston Villa, Everton and Nottingham Forest, will reportedly have to sell players before June 30 in order to comply with PSR ahead of the new campaign.

A move for Longstaff, therefore, looks unlikely to happen before that date, unless they are able to raise funds by selling one of their key players. One of those could be Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall who has been linked with moves to Manchester United and Chelsea in recent times.

Although Longstaff has been a key player under Howe, an oddity of the current Profit and Sustainability Rules mean that any homegrown player, such as Longstaff, can be recorded as pure profit on a club’s financial records and can go a long way into helping clubs solve any PSR issues. Chelsea have been exponents of this in recent times with players like Lewis Hall and Mason Mount, both of whom came through their academy structures, being sold to help them comply with PSR.

Furthermore, it’s likely that Leicester will need to appoint Enzo Maresca’s successor before they conduct too much business in the transfer market. Former Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper and Graham Potter, who has managed Chelsea and Brighton in the Premier League, are among the favourites to take over at the King Power Stadium.