A crushing transfer blow has emerged on Newcastle United target Ousmane Dembele, regarding his current contract situation.

What's the talk?

Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano has revealed that the Magpies target looks set for a new contract at the Nou Camp, with Barcelona confident of striking a deal with the forward.

He tweeted: "Newcastle approached Ousmane Dembélé and his agents weeks ago to make a proposal - but the feeling is still optimistic for his contract extension with Barcelona. #FCB #NUFC Barça are confident to reach the final agreement in the next days, and Xavi is pushing to keep Ousmane."

Gutted

Newcastle fans will surely be gutted by this crushing update as it suggests that their chances of seeing Dembele in a black and white shirt any time soon are slim. The 24-year-old is out of contract at the end of this season as it stands and the Magpies could, in theory, sign him on a pre-contract in January.

However, this latest claim from Romano suggests that he will extend his current terms with the Spanish giants and that would rule out any possibility of him joining Newcastle for nothing. Dembele being willing to sign a new deal would also indicate that he is happy at Barcelona and that could make it increasingly difficult for PIF to snap him up ahead of next season.

Fans will be gutted by this as Dembele could have been an excellent signing for the club. He is an exciting young winger who has shown quality in Ligue 1, the Bundesliga and La Liga, whilst also picking up 27 caps for France - winning the World Cup with his country.

The forward has 30 goals and 23 assists in 126 games for Barcelona, having racked up 10 goals and 22 assists in 50 games for Borussia Dortmund in Germany. He started his career in France with Rennes, scoring 12 and assisting five in 29 matches. This shows that he has the ability to both score and create goals from wide positions and has proven that he can do so in three different countries at the top level, which suggests that he would have a strong chance of doing the same in England.

Therefore, supporters will be disappointed that the attacker is set to sign a new deal in Spain instead of signing for Newcastle in January or next summer. Eddie Howe may need to find alternative targets to bolster his squad now that a move for Dembele appears to be off the cards.

AND in other news, Imagine him & Wilson: PIF can stun NUFC fans by signing "unpredictable" £268k-p/w ace...