Newcastle 'scared off' by £40m price tag after plotting move for Premier League CB

According to The Chronicle, Newcastle United showed genuine interest in a summer move for Crystal Palace's Joachim Andersen.

However, it's believed Palace demanded a whopping £40m for the centre-back - an asking price that 'scared off' Newcastle, Spurs, West Ham and Brentford.

Lee Ryder reports that the Danish international has real 'admirers' at St James' Park, with the 27-year-old offering a similar profile to fellow ball-playing defender, Fabian Schar.

He could've been an ideal addition to compete and rotate with the Swiss star, but it's easy to see why the club looked elsewhere at £40m. Andersen is a solid defender, a leader and can pick a pass from deep just like Schar, but he's not that young, mobile right-sided defender worth paying huge sums of money for.

In the end, we took a risk not bringing in another centre-back and it's already backfired to a certain degree, with Sven Botman missing our 3-1 defeat to Brighton with an ankle injury.

Andersen himself has started the season impressively, making the Premier League Team of the Week in their opening day win at Sheffield United before scoring in a 1-1 draw at Brentford last month. According to WhoScored, no Premier League defender has a higher average rating than his 7.74 over the first four weeks of the new season.

One to watch in future windows if Palace's price comes down, or do you see us pursuing younger alternatives in 2024?