Newcastle United are set to miss out on the chance to bring in Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori on loan in January, with the Blues wishing not to loan him out to a Premier League club.
Steve Bruce has been keen to add to his options at centre-back in the winter window and the Magpies have also been linked with a potential loan move for Manchester United outcast Phil Jones. However, it had also been reported that they were monitoring Tomori’s situation at Chelsea ahead of a potential loan bid for the England international, per The Northern Echo.
Tomori has found game-time hard to come by at Chelsea this season since the arrival of Thiago Silva, with the 22-year-old playing in just one Premier League game for Frank Lampard’s side in 2020/21. It is thought that the Blues are open to allowing him to leave the club in January on a temporary basis, but any such move would see him exit the Premier League for the second half of the season, per The Sun.
Nice have registeredan interest in the defender, with Chelsea unwilling to sell him at this stage and only considering a loan departure to a club outside the English top flight, per The Sun. That means Newcastle are likely to miss out on Tomori and will now have to move onto other targets if they are to strengthen their defence in the January transfer window.
Read Newcastle verdict
Tomori would likely have been an excellent addition for the Magpies, with the defender having shown his quality and potential last season with Chelsea. The England international made 1.9 tackles and 2.8 clearances per game last season, as well as maintain an 87% passing accuracy rate (Sofascore).
You can understand why Lampard would not to loan out the defender to a fellow Premier League club. Whilst Newcastle are not direct rivals of potential title challengers in Chelsea, the table is congested and there are only a handful of points separating the top half, so the Blues will be wary against helping any side in mid-table.
The Magpies will still have to address their issues at the back and it will be up to Bruce to find an alternative target. That looks likely to be Jones at this stage, but he has already been told he would be unable to bring in the 28-year-old on a permanent deal and it would have to be a loan agreement reached with Manchester United for any move to happen.
