Fabrizio Romano teases fresh Newcastle United transfer bid for £30m-rated star

After failing to land Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace last summer, Newcastle’s interest in the England international has cooled with Liverpool now considering a move.

But The Magpies are still keen to bring in a centre-back to bolster their ageing defence which has grown smaller with the departure of Lloyd Kelly. Sven Botman is the only senior central defender at Newcastle below the age of 30 while Emil Krafth, Jamaal Lascelles and Fabian Schar are all into the final year of their contracts at St James’ Park.

Newcastle are yet to sign a first-team player this summer but have made bids to sign Anthony Elanga from Nottingham Forest and James Trafford from Burnley. Nothing has been agreed regarding a transfer fee but both deals are understood to be close.

And Newcastle are also keeping tabs on a couple of players on the continent as they look to make a move to bring in a defender this summer.

Newcastle United scout Marseille captain

According to Mail Online, Newcastle are exploring a potential deal to sign Marseille defender Leonardo Balerdi.

The 26-year-old centre-back has been capped eight times at senior level by Argentina. He has spent six years in Europe following a move from Boca Juniors to Borussia Dortmund in 2019.

After initially struggling in Europe, Balerdi has found a home in the south of France and captained Marseille last season as they finished runners-up to PSG in Ligue 1 and qualified for the Champions League.

But he’s not the only player the club are looking at.

Newcastle United want Giorgio Scalvini

Atalanta star Giorgio Scalvini is highly-admired by Newcastle and has even recently been described as the club’s ‘top target’ in The Times, who claim the 21-year-old defender could be available for just £30million this summer.

Sources in Italy claim that Atalanta won’t entertain any offers for Scalvini while his injury record means Newcastle have some reservations over a potential deal. Scalvini made just eight appearances last season after suffering an ACL injury last May before picking up a shoulder injury.

But at just 21, he has already made over 100 appearances for Atalanta as well as being capped eight times by the Italian national team.

Fabrizio Romano claims Newcastle United are ready to make a move for Scalvini

Italian transfer expert Fabrizio Romano provided an update on Scalvini’s situation via his YouTube channel.

Romano said: “English clubs already wanted Scalvini before the injury suffered a year ago he has always been a very appreciated player in England.

“Several Premier League clubs remain attentive to the situation of Scalvini. We told you exclusively about Newcastle and Giorgio Scalvini is one of Newcastle’s priorities for the defence.

“Newcastle are ready to make some important economic effort to sign Scalvini but we know dealing with Atalanta is never easy. The president, [Antonio] Percassi always maintains a point that it’s very hard when it comes to selling players of this level like Giorgio Scalvini.

“But for Newcastle, [he’s] an important defender in this market and they want to make an attempt.

“Newcastle wants to try [to sign Scalvini] but I believe that there will not only be Newcastle in for Scalvini, it will be a race between even more teams, and the ball is in Atalanta’s hands.