Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew believes that Liverpool striker Andy Carroll will definitely be out of Anfield this summer.
The Magpies are believed to be in the running to bring back the England international, who left the Sports Direct Arena for Merseyside last year for £35m.
"It's a delicate situation," Pardew told the Shields Gazette. "It's a transfer that I'm not particularly involved in, and it'll stay like that.
"I think that it'll still be a board-level thing between Liverpool and whichever club takes Andy. I think that the writing is on the wall that Andy will go out of there in the summer. We're just keeping a close eye on it."
While the North East side are thought to be interested in taking the 23-year-old on a season-long loan with an option to buy, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has insisted that the Reds will not allow Carroll to leave the club on a temporary basis.