Four Sporting Lisbon players – including long-term Newcastle United target Bas Dost – have terminated their contracts with the Portuguese outfit, as reported by The Telegraph on Tuesday morning, and Magpies fans have been quick to react.

The Telegraph says that the Netherlands international – along with teammates William Carvalho, Bruno Fernandes and Gelson Martins – have all rescinded their deals claiming "just cause", with Dost one of the players injured when some supporters broke into the club's training ground and attacked the players last month.

Meanwhile, Toon boss Rafa Benitez is in the market for a new centre-forward this summer in order to boost a frontline that only netted 39 goals in their 38 Premier League matches last term, and he would surely be tempted by the opportunity to bring a player who has scored a remarkable 61 times in 61 Liga NOS outings for Sporting.

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Newcastle supporters, who want their club to snap up a £25m Premier League winger this summer, took to social media to give their thoughts on the story, and while one said "I don't even want him anymore", another said "Charnley is on it lads".

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…