JAVIER MANQUILLO looks set for a return to Spain this summer, with Newcastle United’s ongoing interest in Tino Livramento highlighting Eddie Howe’s desire to shuffle his options at right-back.

Magpies officials continue to hold discussions with the hierarchy at Southampton over Livramento, with Newcastle’s initial bid of around £15m understood to have been rejected earlier this week.

Having been relegated from the top-flight last season, Southampton are resigned to losing a number of their leading lights, with Livramento one of the players expected to be leaving St Mary’s.

However, Southampton need to drive a hard bargain for the 20-year-old as Chelsea inserted a hefty sell-on clause into the deal that took the defender from Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2021.

The percentage of Chelsea’s sell-on fee reportedly rises in line with Livramento’s sale price, but the Blues will be due around a third of whatever Southampton bank and that is understandably being factored into negotiations.

Newcastle’s recruitment team remain hopeful that an agreement can be reached, with Livramento desperate to get his career back on track after he missed almost an entire season with a cruciate knee-ligament injury.

The England Under-21 international damaged his knee in April 2022, and only returned to Southampton’s first team when he made two substitute appearances in the final week of last season.

READ MORE:

Newcastle are relatively well-stocked at right-back, with Manquillo, Emil Krafth and Harrison Ashby all available to deputise for established first-choice Kieran Trippier.

However, the ongoing Livramento talks confirm a desire to make wider changes in the position within the squad.

The Newcastle hierarchy are willing to listen offers for Manquillo, who is the subject of strengthening interest from at least two clubs in his native Spain.

The Madrid-born 29-year-old has entered the final year of his contract on Tyneside, and he is much more likely to be sold this summer than to be offered a new deal.

He joined Newcastle in the summer of 2017 from Atletico Madrid, signing for then boss Rafael Benitez, but has found his first-team opportunities extremely limited under Howe.

His only two senior starts last season came in the competitions – one against Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup and the other against Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup third round – and the most recent of his four substitute appearances in the Premier League came in April’s 6-1 thrashing of Tottenham.

Clubs in Italy and Germany have also been credited with an interest in his services, but his representatives are understood to be focusing on clubs in La Liga as they mull over the potential for a move this summer.

Howe has previously described Manquillo as a ‘valued’ member of his squad, but there is a shared acceptance that it makes sense to cash in this summer rather than run the risk of the defender leaving for nothing at the end of his contract.

If Newcastle sign Livramento, they are also likely to propose that Ashby leaves on loan for at least the first half of the campaign.

The 21-year-old joined the Magpies from West Ham in January, but he is yet to make his first senior appearance for the club. He was named on the substitutes’ bench for the final two matches of the season, but did not get onto the field.

There is satisfaction at the rate of his progress so far, but also a feeling that a spell in lower-league football could be just what he needs at this stage of his career. He is unlikely to be short of suitors in Leagues One and Two, with a final decision over his future expected to be taken once Newcastle’s players return to Darsley Park for the start of pre-season training next week.