Newcastle are thought to be keen to offload the 27-year-old after a troubled two years on Tyneside following a £5.8million move from Manchester City.

Hull are anxious to strengthen their squad ahead of the new season but say they are not planning to offer Barton a Premier League lifeline.

When asked if there was any truth in the rumours, assistant manager Brian Horton said: "No.

"Joey Barton is a very good footballer. I know him, I have done things with him in Manchester.

"He has obviously had issues and that is a shame because he can be a very good footballer but at this present time I don't think it's an area that really needs to be looked at."

Hull have endured a frustrating summer in the transfer market having seen three high-profile targets opt for other clubs.

City were close to agreeing deals with Fraizer Campbell and Marc-Antoine Fortune but lost out to Sunderland and Celtic respectively. An audacious attempt to sign Michael Owen also came to nothing as Manchester United stepped in.

Horton added: "It is frustrating, we are trying like hell.

"But they have gone to three big clubs. If we were losing Joe Bloggs from Division Three it would be a different matter.

"We want to bring someone in but we need to have a bit of patience, things will evolve.

"It's not the fact we are not trying to get better players in."

Horton also said nothing should be read into Brazilian star Geovanni's absence for today's pre-season friendly at UniBond League neighbours North Ferriby.

Geovanni also missed the club's recent training camp in Italy for personal reasons but will be with the squad for tomorrow's friendly at local amateurs Winterton Rangers.

Horton said: "He's trained this morning and will be with the team tomorrow.

"He didn't come to Bormio with us for various reasons so we'll assess his fitness tomorrow and if he feels capable of playing 45 minutes he will."