According to Liam Kennedy at Newcastle World, the club are planning a defensive rebuild in January, with the piece naming three January targets and the PSG defender who’s been offered our way.
Starting with the latter, he reports that we have been handed the opportunity to sign Senegalese centre-back Abdou Diallo next month.
The 25-year-old has featured in just four of PSG’s last 13 games in Ligue 1 and is said to face an uncertain future under current boss Mauricio Pochettino, with French outlet Foot Mercato linking us with a move for the former Borussia Dortmund star last month.
He ticks plenty boxes, being an experienced, left-footed defender with a good turn of pace for his size (6ft 2′), however one major snag could be the fact he’s set to compete in the African Cup of Nations next month – a competition which could see him miss up to three games in January.
Elsewhere, Newcastle World report that Eddie Howe is a big fan of Bournemouth’s Lloyd Kelly, believing he could offer the sort of athleticism our defence currently lacks.
James Tarkowski is also named as a target and someone who would be ‘open to the move’, yet that deal is deemed ‘unlikely’ given Burnley are hugely reluctant to sell to a direct relegation rival.
Last but certainly not least, it’s said a deal is being worked on with Atletico Madrid to bring Kieran Trippier to St James’ Park – and it seems there’s some optimism that we’ll get our man, with the player ‘keen’ to be back in England.
Whoever comes in, it’s absolutely vital we bolster a leaky defence that has shipped 34 goals in just 16 games this season – a stat that may only get worse ahead of games against Liverpool and Man City this week!
AFCON…
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