Newcastle United transfer news: Defender injury fears cast summer business in doubt

The Netherlands international, on loan from Eintracht Frankfurt, suffered a season-ending knee injury, which required an operation in January.

And reports in Germany suggest Willems could well be out for a further ‘eight to nine months’, which would make a summer move, which had been lined up as part of the loan deal from the Bundesliga, unlikely.

Willems was one of the stand-out performers in the first few months of the season, netting twice, once against Liverpool and another in a home draw with Manchester City.

The report in Bild states that upon return to his parent club for the first time last week, Frankfurt doctor Florian Pfab diagnosed the 25-year-old left-back’s issue as an ‘anterior and posterior cruciate ligament tear, with cartilage damage’. They also state the injury is deemed ‘very serious’ for a footballer.

In total the former PSV defender made 20 appearances for United, and it is thought an agreement to make the deal permanent had been struck, with a fee in the region of £10 already set should Willems do well.

United signed Tottenham Hotspur’s Danny Rose on loan to cover for the loss of Willems. There is not thought to be an agreement to make that deal permanent in the summer, although Rose is likely to leave Spurs having fallen out-of-favour with boss Jose Mourinho.