CHERRIES and Newcastle United may do a possible swap deal involving Philip Billing and Matt Ritchie, according to a report in The Sun.

The tabloid claims Cherries still have a “long-term desire” to bring back winger Ritchie, who left Vitality Stadium for the Tyneside in 2016.

Ritchie made 142 appearances for Cherries – scoring 31 goals to help pilot the club’s journey from League One to the Premier League.

Billing has been reported as a “possible-trade” by the publication. The midfielder joined from Huddersfield Town in July 2019 for £15million.

He has since gone on to play 55 times for Cherries in all competitions.

Denmark international Billing missed Tuesday’s Championship clash with Derby, with confusion as to whether or not he was injured.

Billing has since however confirmed via social media there is “no problem with the squad/manager”.

A post on the midfielder’s Twitter page read: “I just want to clarify that it’s all been a big misunderstanding, and something that could have easily been avoided, but now looks a bigger problem than it really is.

“I’ve spoken to the manager and we put it to bed. I for one reacted in a way that was natural as no player wanna see ‘injured’ next to their name, especially when that’s not the case, but my reaction was also inappropriate so for that I hold my hands up.

“Like I said, this could have been avoided, but instead a little bit of miscommunication/misunderstanding occurred.

“There’s no problems with the squad/manager at all. We’re all supportive of each other.

“That said, now we’ve face a few bumps along the road with our recent results.. it is what it is, that’s part of the game.

“But we do need to get back to winning ways, and I’ve got no doubt we will be very soon if we all stand together and believe in each other! That includes all of us.”