Eddie Howe is desperate to add a quality central defender to his Newcastle United squad who will also reduce the average age of his backline.
With only Sven Botman under 30 in the pool of central defenders available to Howe, finding someone younger who still has the quality to be a regular starter in the Premier League and indeed the Champions League is a huge priority for the Newcastle boss.
Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi remains the top choice for Eddie Howe, and there seems to be confidence that Newcastle can get a deal done for the 24-year-old England defender.
However, having been bitten by Crystal Palace before, Newcastle know not to put all of their hopes on signing Guehi.
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Evan Ndicka: Back on Newcastle's wishlist?
Newcastle and Arsenal have their eyes on Evan Ndicka from AS Roma
A report from LaRoma24 in Italy is now claiming that Newcastle are set to battle Arsenal for the signing of Roma defender Evan Ndicka.
The report claims that Roma would not entertain offers below €40 million (£34 million) after the centre-back played in every game for the Serie A side last season.
Whatever they end up receiving for Ndicka would be profit, however, as the 25-year-old joined Roma on a free after leaving Eintracht Frankfurt.
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Newcastle scouted Evan Ndicka while he was at Eintracht Frankfurt
Evan Ndicka was linked with Newcastle in 2022, but the Magpies didn't make a move and a year later, he left the Bundesliga side to join Roma.
Once again, the origins of the story make us question its legitimacy, but as no UK outlets have any clue about Newcastle's foreign transfer targets, it is plausible that the foreign press could be finding out things on their end before the UK journos get wind of it.
We still expect the priority to Marc Guehi, though, and until there's a resolution one way or another on that front, we'll not expect any movement on other defensive targets.