Newcastle working on deal to sign £40m defender | OneFootball

Newcastle will be eyeing multiple big signings this summer in order to take themselves to the next level in their project, and one position that they are planning to address is central defence. Fabian Schar and Dan Burn are both aging, while Sven Botman has struggled with injuries, and because of this, it is a priority for the Carabao Cup winners to bring in another option for Eddie Howe.

Several players have been linked with Newcastle in recent months. They are reported to be one of the clubs keen on Bournemouth’s Dean Huijsen, while Marc Guehi remains a target after their failed pursuit last summer. But at this stage, it is a Bayern Munich star that is becoming their leading target.

Kim-Min jae was confirmed as being a Newcastle target earlier this week, and now there has been further developments on the matter.

Newcastle working to sign Kim Min-jae from Bayern Munich

Kim Min-jae in action for Bayern against Inter (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)

As reported by Football Insider, Newcastle are working on a deal to sign Kim this summer, and the possible lure of Champions League football could be enough for the South Korean international to swap Bavaria for Tyneside.

Bayern are keen to sell their out-of-favour players this summer, one of whom is Kim. According to the report, he would be available for a fee in the region of £40m, which would be affordable to Newcastle even with their well-documented PSR struggles.

It remains to be seen whether Kim is the central defender that Newcastle make a serious move for in the summer, but given how he has performed for Napoli and Bayern in recent years, it could be a masterstroke to bring him to St James’ Park. But there is no doubt that a deal could hinge on whether Howe’s side can finish inside the top five in the Premier League.