Newcastle United "intensifying" approach for £70M signing Klopp is advancing timeline to sign

Liverpool could lose out on signing Ousmane Diomande from Sporting Lisbon amid increasing competition from Newcastle United although financial pressure from the Premier League could have an impact.

According to a report from O Jogo, as translated and relayed by Yard Barker, Newcastle United are "intensifying their pursuit" of the 20-year-old.

Reportedly, they will have "delegation in Lisbon this week for talks" with Sporting Lisbon and the player.

The Magpies are not willing to meet his €80 million (circa £70M) release clause and "hope to negotiate a realistic fee."

They also hope to convince Diomande to join the club with the player yet to be sold on the idea of moving to St. James Park.

What are 'Profit and Sustainability' rules and how are Newcastle United impacted? And how can Liverpool benefit?

The Premier League requires its member clubs to abide by their rules on profit and losses to ensure they are sustainable in their approach to the transfer market.

As we've seen with Chelsea spending over £1 billion (!) on loan and transfer fees since Todd Boehly came in, clubs can get carried away even when they are being closely watched.

These rules are supposed to help clubs avoid bankruptcy and to protect the Premier League from becoming a league wherein money alone dictates success.

Newcastle have a £105 million bill to settle and can only do so by generating more income. This can be done with sponsorship and commercial agreements but given those are difficult to arrange, the likelier outcome is that the Magpies will sell one or two of their more marketable players to get onside with the PL.

Bruno Guimaraes is one such player the Reds are tracking and even held talks with Newcastle in the summer to ascertain whether or not he was available. His subsequent contract renewal put paid to those hopes but now, with the Tyneside outfit under financial pressure, there is a chance it could happen in the summer.

More on that is embedded below.

Jurgen Klopp advances timeline for centre-back signing

A report in the second week of January suggested that Klopp wants to advance his timeline for a new centre-back signing after Joel Matip suffered an ACL tear.

Ousmane Diomande is one option although the Reds also really like his partner in defence, Goncalo Inacio.

Despite that claim, it remains unlikely that the Reds will make any new signings with James Pearce pouring cold water on all transfer rumours recently.

The Athletic correspondent said: “Liverpool-wise, it’s very quiet. All the noises coming at the club are that Klopp is happy with what he’s got.

“Of course they need to bolster at centre-half because of what they’ve got, but there’s no sense of urgency because of the development of Quansah to such a level where he’s fully trusted and an established member of the first-team squad.”