Fabrizio Romano has revealed Newcastle United are showing an interest in FC Augsburg centre-back Felix Uduokhai on the latest YouTube video from Newcastle Fans TV.
The Toon’s search for a new centre-back has worked its way into the third week of the January transfer window having failed in their efforts to acquire Sven Botman.
Do NUFC need more than one new centre-back this month?
Yes
No
It is believed the Magpies are still in the race for Sevilla defender Diego Carlos, but Romano has insisted they also hold an interest in German 24-year-old Uduokhai.
With just two weeks remaining of the January window, Romano believes the Premier League club have already sent scouts over to Germany to watch the centre-back.
Less than two years after leaving Wolfsburg to join Augsburg, Romano had the following to say after discussing the difficulties of agreeing on a fee for players in January:
“This is why signing a centre-back in January is not easy, but maybe they will go for another name, a different one that was not on the list a few days ago. But maybe, it could be the surprise for Newcastle.
“At the moment, it’s not something close. But for example, a player that they’ve been following in the last two months is Uduokhai, a centre-back of Augsburg that is a very interesting player, and they sent their scouts to follow him.”
TIF Thoughts on Uduokhai to NUFC…
It is clear to us Eddie Howe needs reinforcements for his defence. The Magpies have been nothing short of dreadful this season defensively, and if they want to survive, we feel this is the biggest area for improvement.
The defender has been capped for the German youth side and was included in their Olympic squad last year, however, we do have our reservations about his start to the 2021/22 campaign, in which he has suffered from injuries and failed to take part in a single league win in five attempts (as per Transfermarkt).
Newcastle need a defender to come in this month and transform their backline, as the club are yet to head in an upwards trajectory under Howe.
However, since the 24-year-old has only just returned to action having missed the majority of the campaign through injury, this raises questions over whether he is ready to immediately slot straight into Howe’s side.
In other news: Insider tips Newcastle as ‘good option’ for star ‘Mourinho’s even interested’ in