NEWCASTLE UNITED are confident they will be able to agree a new deal with Joelinton that will prevent the need to sell the midfielder next summer.

Joelinton, who is set to undergo surgery next week that is likely to rule him out for the remainder of the season, has entered the final 18 months of his contract at St James’ Park.

Talks over a potential new deal have stalled, with the Newcastle hierarchy unable to reach an agreement with the Brazilian’s representatives.

Joelinton is currently understood to earn around £50,000-a-week as part of the deal that brought him to Tyneside from German club Hoffenheim in the summer of 2019. That is some way below the figures being earned by Newcastle’s highest-paid players, and the 27-year-old is hoping to secure a significant increase on that figure to lift him to the levels of the club’s highest earners.

The Newcastle hierarchy have resisted such a move to this point as they are mindful of the need to keep wage inflation at a sustainable level. The latest set of accounts, published last week, showed that the club have successfully reduced their wages to turnover ratio from 94.6 per cent to 74.1 per cent, and there is a desire to continue to keep the figure under control.

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Nevertheless, sources claim there is also a high degree of optimism that a compromise can be reached, with further discussions set to take place during the spring.

While both Eddie Howe and Darren Eales have highlighted the potential need to sell a player in order to free up some space within the profit and sustainability parameters laid out by the Premier League, Howe regards Joelinton as a key member of his first-team squad and an important catalyst for the high-tempo, high-pressing approach that has served Newcastle so well during his tenure.

Having been bought for £40m in the Mike Ashley era, the Brazilian initially struggled to settle while playing as a ‘number nine’. He has been a revelation since being switched to midfield though, and would hardly be short of domestic and European suitors if the current contract impasse was not broken and Newcastle decided they had to cash in during the summer rather than run the risk of losing one of their prize assets for nothing further down the line.

German media reports have linked Kieran Trippier with a potential move to Bayern Munich, suggesting the Bundesliga club had made a formal inquiry for the England international. That is not believed to be the case, however, with Newcastle not having held any discussions over the right-back.