Newcastle transfer target expects to leave Chelsea in January

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Newcastle United may be a little light in a couple of areas.

While they did manage to significantly strengthen their squad over the course of the summer transfer window, Newcastle still lack options in some key departments.

Namely in central defence.

Though Fabian Schar and Sven Botman were excellent last season, Eddie Howe does not boast a huge amount of depth behind them.

Plenty of centre-backs were linked with a move to St James’ Park but, obviously, nothing came to fruition.

Still, perhaps there’s a chance things could be looked at again in January,

Trevoh Chalobah now surplus to requirements at Chelsea

Indeed, Chelsea’s Trevoh Chalobah was one of the names touted as a Newcastle target.

The 24-year-old saw moves to Nottingham Forest and Bayern Munich break down on deadline day but, according to the Evening Standard, remains facing a rather bleak future at Stamford Bridge.

The report suggests he could be frozen out in west London, with the player not expecting to return to a prominent role under Mauricio Pochettino when he comes back from a hamstring injury.

Ironically, the signing of Axel Disasi – a player strongly linked with the Magpies – is said to have knocked Chalobah down the pecking order.

This could work in Newcastle’s favour

The Standard suggest Chelsea were demanding £50m for their academy graduate during the summer, though that could drop.

Given the FFP issues Newcastle are dealing with, that may be a big help. Forest, after all, are said to have bid around half of that to get a conversation going, representing a significant shift.

At 24 and experienced at the top level, Chalobah fits the kind of mould PIF have targeted thus far. With the report adding the player is looking for a club similar in stature to the Blues, perhaps revisiting interest in January could be a productive move for all parties.