Jetro Willems' hopes of a Newcastle return may be hit by post-Brexit transfer rules.
After months of speculation, rumours of an imminent move to United again circulated in the German press earlier this week and Willems will be a free agent in the summer as his contract expires with Eintracht Frankfurt.
The 27-year-old has made no secret about wanting to return to St James' Park - and has even switched agents to Base Soccer in an attempt to make the switch, or a return to the Premier League, happen.
But even if Newcastle were to re-ignite interest there are huge question marks over whether he will qualify for a work permit under the GBE rules brought in back in January after the UK departed the EU.
Under that points based system, marks are handed out according to things like minutes played, the calibre of league the selling club competes in and recent international appearances.
But Willems - who was out injured for a year - has not played a first team game for 15 months, despite being available for selection since January. That would likely impact his chances of earning automatic endorsement by the FA if Newcastle did strike an agreement with the player.
The ex-Netherlands star, who was desperate to make the move in January, turned down a move to Mainz in the last transfer window but that may end up costing him. Any games played in the New Year might have helped press the case.
The new GBE rules are the talk of the world of football recruitment. While players competing for the best teams in most of the big European leagues will qualify automatically as the rules are weighted to grant them automatic endorsement, there are plenty of promising players who will no longer qualify.
With budgets crunched by the pandemic, several routes to sign inexpensive players will be blocked by the new rules.
There are exemptions and a possible appeal process over what constitutes being "available" for selection. But Willems - who has been dreadfully unlucky with injuries - may end up being an unfortunate victim of the new system in a summer when he would normally have been a compelling free agent option for a host of teams in the Premier League.
