Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl dismisses Mohammed Salisu to Newcastle transfer claims

Newcastle United were in talks to sign Southampton centre-back Mohammed Salisu in the January transfer window, according to 90 mins writer Graeme Bailey.

Salisu was reportedly a “top target” for the Magpies and a transfer would have been worth around £40m, including add-ons and bonuses.

However, the report says the arrival of Southampton’s new owners put a stop to the deal from happening. Fronted by Serbian businessman Dragan Solak, Sport Republic acquired a majority share of Saints in early January.

SAINTS NEWS: Dragan Solak’s Sport Republic buys ownership stake in Southampton

Despite those reports, Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl rubbished any claims that Salisu was close to leaving the South Coast for Newcastle, stressing that none of his players wanted to leave Saints in the transfer window.

Even if they did, it appears that the club also had little to no interest in reducing its squad numbers and letting players go in January.

“No. No player wanted to leave. We were going to say no to everything,” Hasenhuttl said in his press conference ahead of the FA Cup game against Coventry on the weekend.

“We were never going to let players leave during the winter.”

That clears that one up then. In any case, Newcastle had to settle for signing Dan Burn as their new centre-back, joining from Brighton & Hove Albion for £13m on deadline day.