Newcastle continue to be linked with centre-backs, with rumours rife now the January window has officially opened.
We look set to make adjustments to our defensive setup either this month or in the coming summer after failing to come to an agreement with Crystal Palace for Marc Guehi last year.
Paul Mitchell seemingly has multiple centre-backs on his radar if reports are to be believed, with the same links continuing to circulate.
Toon linked with Tomori again
According to talkSPORT, Newcastle and Tottenham could go head to head in pursuit of AC Milan’s Fikayo Tomori.
The former Chelsea defender fell out of favour with recently sacked Milan manager Paulo Fonseca, making just six Serie A starts this season and being limited to few minutes off the bench since early October.
TalkSPORT report that ourselves and Spurs are both considering moves for the 27-year-old, with West Ham and Brentford also keen and aware of his availability.
The Spurs links make sense considering their makeshift defence that has shipped goals since injuries to Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero is in need of reinforcement, and I would imagine that to be the more likely destination for Tomori.
Younger centre-back more likely?
Despite his lack of minutes in Italy this season, Tomori is still a more than capable centre-back, but I’m not convinced he would be the sort of signing we pursue this month.
The profile of our recent signings – particularly in defence with Tino Livramento, Sven Botman and Lewis Hall – have all been young and I would imagine that is a trend that will continue if we are to recruit a centre-back.
There are a few aging players in the Magpies defensive setup with Fabian Schar, Dan Burn, Kieran Trippier, Jamaal Lascelles and Emil Krafth all in their 30s, and it’s been suggested that one of Paul Mitchell’s key tasks is to lower the average age of our squad.
This would explain strong links to Lens’ 20-year-old star Abdukodir Khusanov, making a move for Tomori appear less likely as a long-term replacement to Fabian Schar.
