Rivaldo's extraordinary wage demands are likely to preclude Newcastle from pulling off an audacious bid to sign him.

The Brazil World Cup star earns an amazing £5m a year after tax at Barcelona, whose new coach Louis van Gaal is looking to sell him.

That salary is close to double what Manchester United pay David Beckham, who is on £90,000-a-week gross after he signed a new contract last month.

Rivaldo, 30, is available for a cut-price £10m because he is due to become a free agent next summer.

Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd and his deputy Douglas Hall are both on holiday in Barcelona at the moment - but their ambitious raid on the Nou Camp club's most prized asset is not expected to succeed.

Hall famously claimed last year that Newcastle are "bigger than Barcelona", and that he dreamt of bringing Rivaldo to St James' Park.

But it would take more than Bobby Robson's powers of persuasion, plus the promise of Champions League football with Newcastle next season, to convince the midfielder to take a sizeable pay cut and swap the Ramblas for the Bigg Market.

Robson was at Barcelona in 1997 when the Catalan giants paid around £16m to sign him from their Spanish rivals Deportivo La Coruna.

But Rivaldo has also been linked with a summer move to Double winners Arsenal, who possess considerably more financial muscle than Newcastle.

However, one of the player's advisors said last night: "Newcastle are interested in Rivaldo but no official offer has been received from Newcastle or any other club for the time being.

"Rivaldo's intention is to stay at Barcelona and finish his contract, but he is an intelligent man. He will look at the possible offers and decide what is best for his future career.

"Rivaldo is with Brazil at the World Cup and is not aware of what's going on."

Rivaldo is due to line up at St James' Park on August 7 when Barcelona face Newcastle in a pre-season friendly.

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