If reports from Germany are to be believed, Newcastle United aren’t waiting around for deals to come to them this year.
Newcastle were far too slow to act in the summer transfer window last year, and it cost them dearly. Particularly when it came to finding someone to replace wantaway Alexander Isak.
This year, it feels like progress is already being made behind the scenes on a few targets, and German outlet BILD have made claims that the Magpies are making ‘concrete moves’ already for one young Bundesliga star.
BILD claims Newcastle are in contact with Werder Bremen over their exciting 18-year-old defender Karim Coulibaly, who could cost as much as £39 million.
Coulibaly is attracting interest from many top clubs and has earned a call-up to the German Under-21 set up for his standout performances in a struggling Werder side.
The report claims Newcastle and Chelsea have ‘already held concrete, advanced discussions over a potential deal’, as Werder are resigned to losing the youngster in the summer.
It’s thought that both clubs are willing to meet Werder’s valuation for Coulibaly, but they will face competition from Marseille, Napoli and potentially Paris Saint-Germain.
Newcastle really need more defensive reinforcements this summer, particularly those of a younger persuasion.
The likes of Dan Burn, Fabian Schar and Kieran Trippier are propping up the average age of the squad, but when you look at the average age of our defence, we should be entitled to some kind of state benefits.
Fabian Schar and Kieran Trippier are expected to leave at the end of the season, which just increases Newcastle’s need to bring in new defensive talent.
Coulibaly would certainly be a good place to start. £39 million seems very steep for a teenager from the Bundesliga, but the fact that Newcastle are even looking at him proves what has been said recently, that the focus for the recruitment team is now to look for young talent from Europe to develop with the club rather than searching for established Premier League stars.
Our big worry is our record when going up against Chelsea in the transfer market isn’t great, so we’re not going to hold our breath on this one.