PANATHINAIKOS are haggling over numbers in a bid to land Newcastle United winger Rolando Aarons.

The Magpies are prepared to let Aarons go this summer and that could be on a permanent basis or on another loan.

He impressed in the second half of last season when he was on loan at Sheffield Wednesday and the Owls are believed to be keen too.

But Sheffield Wednesday boss Steve Bruce has not struck a deal so far, even though there are plenty of supporters at Hillsborough who would like to see him back for a further spell.

That delay has opened the door for others to express an interest, and Greek club Panathinaikos have made it clear they would like him.

The Athens team’s sporting director Nikos Dabizas, a former Newcastle defender, has worked hard to improve links between the two clubs in the last couple of years.

Dabizas is also known to be interested in Aarons’ team-mate Callum Roberts but there is no deal close to being confirmed at this stage, while Celtic’s former Sunderland loan signing Lewis Morgan is an alternative option.

Aarons has greater pace than both of those players which is what is attracting Dabizas, although there is still some work to be done for him to agree terms – even if it is a temporary stint.

The Greek media have reported that the player earns £712,000-a-year at St James’ Park, which equates to around £13,500-a-week. While that sounds relatively affordable for Premier League clubs in England, Panathinaikos are only looking to pay around half of that.

That is why a loan deal with Newcastle paying a chunk of his wage would be more likely. Alternatively, Aarons and Newcastle could decide to hold on longer this summer to try to strike a better deal elsewhere.

Many Championship clubs would be even willing to pay somewhere near to that figure for Aarons, who has had an indifferent couple of years at Newcastle after being hailed as a wonder-kid with plenty potential not too long ago.

The 23-year-old also spent time on loan at Slovan Liberec last season and he has two years remaining on his contract.

There is plenty of uncertainty hanging around St James’ at the moment and Aarons’ future is unlikely to be worrying the boardroom, with managing director Lee Charnley having had further contact with manager Rafa Benitez again this week.

Benitez’s contract is due to expire on June 30 and there has not been any breakthrough over his talks to extend the deal. Ashley is willing to give the Spaniard a short-term deal to keep Newcastle ticking over while Sheikh Khaled – and others - continue to pursue a purchase of the Premier League club.

While Benitez would prefer to get some assurances over his demands for greater transfer control and spending that would lead to him staying, his exit could offer a fresh chance to some players likely to leave as things stand.

Aarons is one of those, so is Achraf Lazaar and he had a loan spell at Wednesday and is keen to prove himself at Newcastle. Once the managerial situation is sorted out it is likely to lead to some big decisions on that front.