Newcastle are in talks with Saudi club Al Ahli regarding the sale of winger Allan Saint-Maximin.
The Magpies are working to get transfer deals done around Financial Fair Play constrictions.
While the Premier League club would not like to lose the French winger, they may not have an option.
This week, manager Eddie Howe said, Allan is in discussions regarding a move to another club. Nothing is confirmed, nothing is done, it's still at the early stages, but that is why he wasn't here.
There are no immediate plans for him to join us on Wednesday (on the flight to the US), but we'll wait and see. These things can change and he could end up with us again, and if that is the case, then we'd love to welcome him back.'
Asked why Saint-Maximin was set to leave, Howe said: With Financial Fair Play, you sort of have to trade otherwise, for us, this summer, we would be stuck in a position where we couldn't recruit players the other way. That's how Financial Fair Play works and we understand that.
Financial Fair Play forced that to a degree. We could make a stance not to sell Maxi, but then we'd be in a position where we couldn't recruit Sandro (Tonali) or any other player, so our hands would have been tied. We knew this summer, the likelihood is we'd have to sell a player to trade, and that looks like it will happen. Sometimes these things have to happen for club to grow.
Maxi is a top player and we definitely don't want to lose him. We want to strengthen the group, but sometimes these things happen and we have to accept that.
The supporters love him and we love him. If he does go, it will be a really difficult moment for all of us."