Eddie Howe has dismissed as "nonsense" a report that skipper Bruno Guimaraes is in advanced talks with Manchester United over a summer move.
The 28-year-old Brazil international is back on Tyneside after undergoing rehabilitation on a hamstring injury in his native country, but he was followed by claims from South America that he could be heading for Old Trafford.
Frustrated head coach Howe, who has in recent weeks seen the likes of Sandro Tonali, Anthony Gordon, Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall linked with other clubs should the Magpies fail to secure Champions League football for next season, was swift to counter the suggestion.
He said: "I don't even know how to respond to that. I don't even think I should because it's a waste of my energy.
"I'm not going to be impolite because I don't think it's the forum to do that in. For me it's a nonsense story.
"Bruno's our captain, he's fully committed. He's injured at the moment, his only focus is coming back to fitness.
"For me, it is not the time to think about it. In the summer, you can understand those stories a little bit more because the transfer window is open.
"To say our captain is in discussions with another club is totally disrespectful to Bruno more than anything else. He is totally committed here."
Guimaraes' situation represents something of a sideshow this weekend with the Magpies looking to soothe the pain of their 7-2 drubbing at Barcelona on Wednesday evening by erasing the bitter memory of derby defeat at Sunderland in December.
The Magpies lost 1-0 at the Stadium of Light on 14 December when Nick Woltemade's own goal handed their newly-promoted arch-rivals the bragging rights.
Asked to cast his mind back to December, head coach Howe said: "The fall-out of it was long and painful. It certainly did not help us.
"There is an extra weight with the fixture in the sense of, you know if you don't perform, there will be a large and painful baggage that goes with you.
"We don't want that. It affects future performances and affects the emotion and feeling of the whole city. We want all the positives of the game that can carry us on a new run and a new wave of optimism, so you know you're going into the game on a knife-edge.
"In some respects, that can bring out the best in your players. It's all the positive emotions we want, because it could be a turning point in our season very much for the better."
However, the Newcastle boss will not use memories of a poor performance on Wearside to ramp up the pressure on his players this time around.
Howe, who hopes to have key midfielder Sandro Tonali fit after he limped off at the Nou Camp with a groin problem, said: "I'm not sure drumming that message into them is a positive or the right thing to do. It's a very negative message.
"I would much prefer to go with the positive message because we need to inspire the players, not put fear into them."
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