Newcastle United aren’t short of centre-backs with Jamaal Lascelles, Fabian Schar, Dan Burn, Ciaran Clark and Federico Fernandez, but Eddie Howe is likely to sell Clark and Fernandez this summer as they’re surplus to requirements.
The Magpies manager is expected to bring in at least one replacement and L’Equipe (h/t Sport Witness) say Arsenal’s William Saliba is on their radar. The 21-year-old spent the season on loan at Olympique Marseille and was named UNFP Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year.
Saliba joined Arsenal on a five-year deal from AS Saint-Etienne in 2019, setting them back £27m. He was loaned back out to his former club for the 2019/20 campaign before spending five months at OGC Nice (January 2021 – June 2021) the following season.
The French international made 51 appearances in all competitions for Marseille this campaign, missing only four games across the board. In his 36 Ligue 1 outings, Saliba boasted more tackles (54) than Dan Burn (16), more interceptions (48) than Fabian Schar (32) while being dribbled past just eight times, so he’d be a great signing.
Arsenal have no intention of selling Saliba and it remains to be seen if they would loan him out given his fine form in Ligue 1, so this is another ambitious approach from Newcastle.
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