Sven Botman's former Lille teammate linked with Newcastle move - One to watch?

Newcastle are believed to be showing interest in Tiago Djalo; the highly-rated centre-back who played alongside Sven Botman at Lille.

The Chronicle's Lee Ryder reports that the 23-year-old is a player 'liked' by the club's recruitment team, while 90min have also reported on a potential move in 2024.

They claim we are keeping a close eye on his situation and will assess his return from a serious knee injury, with the Portuguese talent approaching the final six months of his contract with Lille.

If he's shown to have made a full recovery, he could be an appealing cut-price option for Eddie Howe given his age, versatility and experience of playing alongside Botman.

He is predominantly a centre-back, but has operated at right-back and left-back on several occasions for Lille and is also attracting interest from Juventus, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan and Bayer Leverkusen.

For all the talk of a midfielder arriving in the New Year to replace the suspended Sandro Tonali, it'll be interesting to see how our centre-back search pans out, with Jarrad Branthwaite, Ousmane Diomande, Joachim Andersen and Radu Dragusin all linked in recent weeks.

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