Report names five senior players Newcastle United aim to sell in January

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Newcastle United’s bloated squad could be trimmed in the January transfer window, with a number of players reportedly not in Rafa Benitez’s plans.

Rafa Benitez needs to trim the fat from his Newcastle United squad in January, and there is five players ripe for the cull. The Chronicle states that Benitez needs to sell players in order to raise funds for new signings next month with the club’s takeover still a work-in-progress.

And the report adds that Benitez will listen to offers for five senior players – Henry Saivet, Jack Colback, Massadio Haidara, Ronaldo Aarons and Mo Diame. As Newcastle fans will attest, none of these names will come as a surprise.

Colback has been heavily tipped to leave for some time, the 28-year-old having been omitted from the first-team squad and forced to play with the reserves since reportedly defying Benitez’s demands for him to leave in the summer.

TEAMtalk have linked Leeds United, Derby County, Bristol City, Reading – and even former club Sunderland – with the tenacious midfielder.

Mo Diame, meanwhile, has featured relatively regularly at Newcastle, but his performances have been poor in an ill-fitting number ten role. The Sun stated earlier this month that Turkish side Sivasspor and Goztepe are keen on him.

Haidara (below) and Saivet, meanwhile, havn’t made a league appearance all season and, despite Newcastle looking a little short at left-back and central midfield, are apparently not part of Benitez’s plans.

The highly-rated Aarons is the one exit Newcastle fans would question, however. The winger is arguably Newcastle’s most exciting academy graduate in years, but injuries have restricted him to just four league starts since 2014/15.

The Mirror stated at the start of December that Crystal Palace, Huddersfield Town and Aston Villa are among the clubs willing to hand Aarons a fresh start.