Newcastle United could have to make Nabil Bentaleb joint top earner at the club if his loan move from Schalke 04 to Tyneside is turned into a permanent deal.
A clause in his contract to convert the transfer into a permanent stay expires next week - according to reports in Germany - with Newcastle having a decision to make on a £8.6million switch.
But it is his £80,000 per week wages - which put him level with Jonjo Shelvey - that could see Newcastle rethink their plans ahead of transfer meetings next week.
Steve Bruce has already spoken of the club's need to "cut their cloth accordingly" going into what is expected to be a testing summer transfer window.
Bentaleb has hinted previously he would like to stay, but he holds the aces on his salary with parent club Schalke 04 and could arguably sit it out in the B team for a further year in order to pick up his full wage packet.
Speaking about his loan spell so far, Bentaleb told the club's TV channel recently: "It was a strange situation, I come and play two games and then lockdown.
"So yeah, it was a little bit strange but we'll see what happens in the future."
