Newcastle interested in Lecce star Tiago Gabriel - Report

Newcastle United are looking to strengthen their defence ahead of next season after what has been quite a poor season in terms of clean sheets.

When you look at Newcastle's first-choice back four on paper, it looks really solid, yet in reality it has proved to be quite leaky this season. 

It just shows how important Fabian Schar actually is to the defence, as Newcastle have only managed three clean sheets since he picked up his injury.

Newcastle can't rely on the Swiss international forever, and indeed, there's still a good chance he leaves at the end of this season, so we need to find reinforcements to back up Malick Thiaw and Sven Botman.

Tiago Gabriel links return 

Portuguese outlet O Jogo (via Sport Witness) has claimed that Newcastle is one of several clubs keen on Lecce centre-back Tiago Gabriel.

This isn't the first time we've been linked with the 21-year-old, as The Mail's Craig Hope highlighted our interest back in January.

The towering defender has earned himself a reputation in Italy for his strong performances in Serie A this season. He's only missed one league game too, and that was a one-game suspension for accumulation of yellow cards. 

Brentford and Juventus would likely be Newcastle's competition for his signature. The Bees tried to sign him for €20 million (£17.2m) in the summer, as did West Ham and Bournemouth, but Lecce wanted another €5m (£4m) at least.

After such an impressive season, that's likely to have increased again, so Newcastle may find they may have to spend closer to £30 million.

A potential Schar replacement? 

Sport Witness' report states that the Sporting academy graduate is a physical presence at 6'4", but is also good on the ball, which makes him a potentially smart long-term replacement for Fabian Schar.

He sounds like he'd be a good punt for Newcastle, who are determined to add young talent to the defence after trundling along with the over-30s club for so long.

Whether one full season in Serie A will be enough experience for him to hit the ground running in the Premier League, we're not sure, but we have Thiaw and Botman as first-choice for now anyway, so he likely wouldn't be expected to play a starring role straight away.

Rumour Rating: 6/10 - We'd like the idea of Tiago Gabriel, going off what we've read, but the story is coming from a Portuguese paper about a player in Italy, possibly going to a club in England. Granted, Tiago Gabriel is Portuguese, so there would be a vested interest, but we've got to exercise caution before getting too carried away. He does tick a lot of boxes, though.