There's a surprise, Barça and Newcastle are negotiating a top signing: Robert Lewandowski already knows it.

Barça will make their Champions League debut tonight against Newcastle at St James' Park. Last season, the team led by Hansi Flick reached the semifinals of the tournament, but they were eliminated in a controversial manner against Inter. The Catalans dominated the tie almost the entire time, but their lack of defensive strength and some questionable refereeing decisions prevented them from reaching the grand final.

Now, with the new edition of the Champions League starting, Barça has another chance to win the title. However, the first test won't be easy to overcome, since Newcastle is a team on the rise that has been improving and achieving better results in recent seasons. With the power of Saudi Arabia behind them, Eddie Howe's team has built a squad full of stars.

Robert Lewandowski aims for the starting line-up

For Barça, the main change Flick is preparing if we take the latest league matches as a reference is the presence of Robert Lewandowski in the starting eleven. At 37 years old, he has already admitted that this season he isn't worried about playing every match, but rather about pacing himself to be at 100% for big occasions like tonight. The Polish footballer doesn't want to miss it and the German coach will put him in the starting line-up.

This decision directly affects Ferran Torres, who had been Flick's favorite option at the start of the season. The "7" has clearly shown that he can be Barça's starter: his 19 goals last season prove it. In fact, those numbers have attracted the interest of other teams.

Newcastle wants to negotiate the signing of Ferran Torres tonight

Beyond the purely sporting aspect, Newcastle will take advantage of Barça's visit to try to finalize a signing they've been pursuing for some time. We're talking about Ferran Torres, who has been a target for the English team for a couple of seasons now.

However, despite Newcastle's attempts, it seems unlikely that Ferran Torres will leave Barça. He didn't want to do so when he was barely playing, so he won't do it now that he's fully integrated into Flick's plans.

Ferran Torres's growing role is a fact and in the first league matches he has been the starter ahead of Robert Lewandowski. In addition, he still has a contract until June 2027 and there is already talk of a possible renewal. Therefore, despite Newcastle's interest and his likely substitute role tonight, the truth is that Ferran has no intention of leaving Barça.