Chelsea defender picks up ‘hamstring problem’ amid Newcastle United interest as ex-Sunderland manager hails £55m deal

It's been another busy week for Newcastle United after the highs of Saturday evening's 5-1 win over Aston Villa at St James' Park.

The club have been working behind the scenes to complete a deal for Chelsea's Lewis Hall as new signing Sandro Tonali enjoyed a night out at Wetherspoons.

Here's your Friday morning transfer round-up.

Newcastle United centre-back target suffers injury

Eddie Howe appears to have landed another full-back to his squad with the acquisition of Chelsea youngster Lewis Hall, but the Magpies boss still hasn't added another centre-back to the team.

Newcastle United are believed to be in the market for a back-up centre-back to provide support to Fabian Schar and Sven Botman, with heavy links to Crystal Palace man Joachim Andersen this summer.

The Magpies had also been linked with Chelsea player Trevoh Chalobah and were apparently not put off by the club's £26 million valuation. However, any movement on that deal may now be jeopardised by the player's fitness.

The Athletic reports that Chalobah has aggravated a 'minor hamstring problem' and could be sidelined for a month.

Chelsea transfer makes Newcastle United business unbelivable deal

Former Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill has admitted that Newcastle United have pulled off the coup of the transfer window by signing AC Milan star Sandro Tonali.

Other Premier League sides have splashed huge sums of money on midfielders, including Chelsea's £115 million on Moises Caicedo and Arsenal's £105 million on Declan Rice.

The Magpies paid just half of that for Tonali in a £55 million deal, and the Italian hit the ground running with a stunning debut performance against Aston Villa on Saturday.

Speaking on talkSPORT, O'Neill said: “Sandro Tonali – you mentioned before in terms of the amount that he’s cost them £55million, only half the fee that’s been paid for a number of central midfielders or defensive midfield player. Sometimes Tonali calls himself a defensive midfield player even though he scored a goal. He actually likens himself to the old warrior Gattuso from some years ago.”