Newcastle now “very interested” in signing Giorgio Scalvini - Report

Amidst all the talk of Newcastle United wanting to sign a right winger and another forward, the club still remains committed to strengthening elsewhere within the squad.

With one eye on the future, the club have been scouring the market for a new young centre-back to eventually replace the aging Fabian Schar.

Having already missed out on Dean Huijsen, and with both Marc Guehi and Illia Zabarnyi potentially moving elsewhere, many of us have wondered if the club have an overseas surprise in mind.

And according to a new report, one Serie A’s top young defenders is now high on our wishlist, although a deal won't be easy to complete, it seems...

Toon eyeing Atalanta star?

Newcastle are thought to be eyeing up a move for Atalanta defender Giorgio Scalvini.

According to Italian journalist Matteo Moretto, Newcastle are "very interested" in signing the 21-year-old in our search for a new centre-back, with Serie A champions Napoli also keen.

Atalanta, however, having just qualified for the Champions League, are against selling the youngster as they consider him a "key player" for next season.

Moretto states that Newcastle are now weighing up whether to launch a bid for the 6ft 4' defender, believing the "next few days" will be key in understanding whether a deal could be possible - or if Atalanta will stand firm and close the door on any potential negotiation.

At just 21-years-old, Scalvini is already starting to build quite a CV: He was part of Atalanta’s Europa League-winning squad in 2024 and has already amassed eight caps for the National Team, alongside being named the ‘Best Italian Player Under 21’ back in 2023.

Of course, Scalvini should be very familiar with our own Italian maestro, as he and Sandro Tonali have played together six times across both the U-21s and senior side.

A Tino-esque opportunity after ACL?

As impressive as Scalvini may seem on paper, questions will be asked from some Newcastle fans over whether the club can risk signing a young defender who’s already suffered an ACL injury so early on in his career.

We’ve already seen with Sven Botman that as excellent as you can be, staying injury-free and being readily available is just as highly desired. With this in mind, Scalvini's injury history may be a concern.

However, recall the signing of Tino Livramento back in 2023: having suffered his own ACL injury in April 2022, the youngster didn’t play a game for Southampton in over a year, but we clearly trusted he'd made a full recovery and swooped in while other sides may have been having doubts, 'buying the dip' as some like to call it.

Since then, Livramento’s been nothing short of a revelation at right back. Could we take the same approach with Scalvini? Only time will tell.

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