Long-term Newcastle 'target' Dusan Vlahovic set to become free agent

Dusan Vlahovic finally looks to be ending his time at Juventus, which will no doubt reignite talks of a move to Newcastle United.

Like Bas Dost before him, Dusan Vlahovic always finds his name linked with a move to Newcastle United whenever a transfer window comes around without any actual movement from the club.

The Serbian striker has been linked with a move to Newcastle ever since the PIF's takeover went through. But there has never been any real movement by Newcastle to make the deal happen, just pure media speculation.

Vlahovic has at times been considered one of Europe's top strikers, but the 26-year-old has struggled to even nail down a place in Juventus' starting lineup, which has meant his reputation has taken quite the hit.

Dusan Vlahovic will be a free agent at the end of the month

Juventus and Vlahovic have been locked in contract talks for months with no sign of a resolution, and now it looks as though he will leave the club when his deal expires.

As reported by Tuttosport, the two parties argued during the week during their final talks, as Vlahovic felt he should be paid more than Jonathan David. After that, th e talks broke down, and now Vlahovic will be a free agent when his contract expires at the end of the month.

The fact that he will be a free agent will no doubt see links to Newcastle pop up again, but there are a couple of big reasons why we will doubt their validity.

Vlahovic's wage demands make a move unlikely

Firstly, Newcastle aren't thought to be looking for a striker in this window, at least not as a priority signing.

That could potentially change, but what's unlikely to change is Newcastle's wage structure, especially with the move to Squad Cost Ratio rules. If Dusan Vlahovic feels he should be paid more than Jonathan David, that puts his wage demands at over £185,000-a-week before any add-ons, which is way beyond what Newcastle is likely to pay.

Those demands are the main reason we don't see Newcastle moving for Jonathan David himself, who we'd much rather have than Vlahovic at this point, although neither has really impressed in the last campaign.