A Newcastle United official was witnessed ‘tapping up’ a £51 million star over his return to St James’ Park.

The Newcastle United supporter allegedly requested the footballer to return to St James’ Park.

Michael Oliver, a Newcastle United supporter and Premier League referee, has taken it upon himself to help the Magpies with their summer transfer business.

Following Dan Ashworth’s departure, United will enter the upcoming transfer window without a sporting director, leaving the signing of new players to head coach Eddie Howe and head of recruitment Steve Nickson, while negotiations will most likely fall under the purview of Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi.

Work is already underway and one man Oliver is keen to see back in black and white is none other than Real Sociedad midfielder Mikel Merino.

Merino previously spent the 2017-18 season at Newcastle, coming on loan from Borussia Dortmund before making the move permanent for an estimated £6.5 million. He made 25 appearances and scored once, in a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace at St James’ Park.

In many ways, his stint on Tyneside was brief, as Sociedad exercised his £10.5 million release clause. Newcastle fans were disappointed to see Merino leave, especially given his success in La Liga since.

The 27-year-old, who is now a Spain international, has made 232 games in five and a half years in San Sebastian and was named to the La Liga Team of the Season last season as Sociedad advanced to the Champions League.

And Sociedad surprised many when they won Group D to set up a last 16 encounter with Paris Saint-Germain. This, of course, would have been Newcastle had they beaten AC Milan on the final matchday.

The French champions won the first leg 2-0 at the Parc des Princes before completing the job at the Reale Arena on Tuesday night, winning 2-1 where Merino netted a late consolation goal for the hosts. And it was at the end of the game where, Oliver – appointed as match referee – was supposedly spotted asking Merino to return Newcastle (see video below).

Football Espana on X, now known as Twitter, wrote: “If you look very closely around the 36 second mark, you can clearly see referee Michael Oliver lobbying #RealSociedad captain Mikel Merino to re-join #NUFC.”

 

Then, in the narrative, they wrote: “Oliver and Merino were also spotted conversing once the full-time whistle blew.

“The referee, who is widely known in England as being a Newcastle United fan, is reported to have asked Merino whether he’d be willing to re-join the Premier League side, whom he played for between 2017 and 2018.”

Merino’s price tag is apparently set at £51 million, albeit this amount is subject to some skepticism given that the player is out of contract in 2025. But regardless of the amount, it’s fair to assume that Newcastle fans would welcome back Merino with open arms.