Newcastle United have reportedly hit a "stalemate" in their pursuit of impressive Southampton youngster Valentino Livramento this summer.

Are Newcastle signing Livramento?

The £8,000-a-week right-back has been considered a strong transfer target for the Magpies in the current transfer window, having impressed for Saints since arriving from Chelsea in 2021.

Unfortunately, Livramento's 2022/23 season was ruined by a cruciate ligament injury, limiting him to just 26 minutes of Premier League action, but he was a regular before that point, making 34 appearances for the south coast club.

While it has looked likely that the Southampton starlet will end up at St James' Park this summer, coming in as competition for Kieran Trippier, a negative update has emerged.

What's the latest on Livramento to Newcastle?

According to The Telegraph's Luke Edwards, talks have stalled over Newcastle's interest in Livramento because of PIF's tactics of trying to under-sell their budget, throwing doubt over a summer move to St James' Park:

"The situation is complicated by the fact Newcastle have shown they can be deceptive when talking about the size of their budgets, as well as the identity of their targets, but they have more pressing priorities this summer than signing a right back to compete with captain Kieran Trippier.

"Sources at St James’ Park have repeatedly stressed that the asking prices have been “astronomically high” so far this summer and they do not have a huge amount of money to spend."

This is a frustrating update, with Livramento a very exciting young player with a high ceiling, once being hailed as a player with that special "aura" about them by Theo Walcott.

The hope is that this is simply nothing more than a blip in terms of negotiations, and that a compromise can be met, ensuring Newcastle acquire services of a gifted English player – one who has won five caps for England's Under-21s to date.

Granted, there can be reservations over any player who has suffered such a serious knee injury, but given the age and the advancement in how fitness setbacks are overcome nowadays, Livramento should return as good as ever, hopefully coming as Trippier's long-term replacement and successor at right-back.