Paul Mitchell to snub £24m deal? - Newcastle looking elsewhere with scouting trips revealed

This summer will almost certainly be a busy one at Newcastle United.

Our PSR woes have eased, it's Paul Mitchell's first full summer window as sporting director and we'll need to bulk up our squad ahead of a season back in Europe, with a goalkeeper, centre-back, right-winger and striker likely to be prioritised.

The debate will continue for months as to who we should sign, although it seems one potential centre-back option is unlikely to be pursued after a certain Argentine international eyes a summer move to England.

Argentinian offered Newcastle's way?

According to The Chronicle, Newcastle have been contacted over the availability of Lens centre-back Facundo Medina.

Lee Ryder reports that the 25-year-old Argentinian is eyeing up a summer move to the Premier League and could be available for a fee in the region of £24m.

That's considerably less than the £60m+ we were offering for Marc Guehi last summer and half the price it will take to activate Dean Huijsen's £50m release clause at Bournemouth.

However, as things stand, it's thought Paul Mitchell and the club's recruitment team are looking elsewhere, with the left-footed Medina operating down a side where we are well stocked with Sven Botman and Dan Burn both strong options.

Ryder reports that Medina is eager to play in the Premier League and has interest Crystal Palace and Manchester United, seeing his representatives float his name in Newcastle's direction without much joy up to this point.

Scouts in Portugal and Scotland

Without giving too much away, that same piece from The Chronicle revealed that Newcastle scouts have recently been on trips to Portugal and Scotland to check on potential summer targets.

It's thought our search for centre-backs has seen us watch options in Portugal, which backs up The Athletic's report earlier this week that we're tracking Sporting Lisbon's Ousmane Diomande and Benfica's Antonio Silva.

Not only are both 21 - four years younger than Medina - they are both right-footed and better suited to being long-term replacements for Fabian Schar.

As for our trip to Scotland, one name to watch may be Nicolas Kuhn. The Celtic winger has 18 goals and 14 assists this season and is likely to be on our radar as we search for a new right-sided attacker.