Newcastle United considered ‘possible landing spot’ for 6ft 3in Italian centre-back

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Newcastle United will soon be in need of new centre-backs at the club.

At the end of the season, Newcastle are currently set to lose two central defenders whose contracts are expiring.

Defenders Fabian Schar and Jamaal Lascelles’ deals are up in the summer, and there is no indication of whether the pair will stay or go.

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has opened talks with Schar over a new deal. However, a deal between the player and the club is still yet to be reached.

The Englishman has been out of action for the last 10 months due to an ACL injury he sustained against West Ham United in March.

Lascelles will not play for Newcastle for at least another six weeks. The 31-year-old suffered the same injury as Sven Botman. However, the Dutchman’s recovery was thought to be much more straightforward than Lascelles which is why Newcastle fans have seen Botman back in the starting XI in recent weeks.

Lascelles will have a short amount of time to prove to Howe that he should be given a new deal.

There is currently a lack of depth in defence due to his injury. Alex Murphy was loaned out to Bolton which means Newcastle only have two backup options a centre-back while he is away.

With that in mind, Newcastle have been identified as a potential suitor for a young defender to join and give Howe much more depth in defence.

Newcastle could sign Mattia Viti

You can be forgiven if you have not heard of 22-year-old centre-back Mattia Viti before. The defender has taken Serie A by storm on his loan spell at Empoli from Ligue 1 club OGC Nice.

So far this campaign, Viti has made the most tackles (28) in the league with a success rate of 78 per cent.

The Daily Mail has identified Newcastle as a ‘possible landing spot’ for Viti, as well as Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest.

Viti joined Nice from Empoli in 2022 for £11m but failed to set the world alight in France before returning to his former club. A deal may be difficult to do at this stage of the season as the 6ft 3inch defender looks to be settled in his home region.

The Magpies are in the market to sign a centre-back. Newcastle failed to land Marc Guehi in the summer after bids upwards of £70m were placed. Schar’s performances this season have meant that Newcastle have not suffered as severely as many initially thought they would.

Empoli also has the option to make the loan move permanent in the summer. That does not completely halt Newcastle from making an approach down the line, however. They could still sign him at the end of the season – albeit for an inflated transfer fee.

Viti has made 19 appearances for Empoli this season, keeping five clean sheets.

Viti would struggle for minutes at Newcastle

It is clear that Viti has got bags of potential, but has previously struggled away from his home region of Tuscany.

If Viti were to sign for Newcastle, there would immediately be a problem. Viti is a left-footed centre-back – Newcastle currently has more than enough bodies to fill that position.

The Magpies have Botman, Dan Burn and Lloyd Kelly as potential starters on the left side of defence. Botman looks like he is set to become a long-term centre-back at Newcastle given the fact that he is still only 24 years old.

Although Burn is 32, he has proven that he is still able to consistently perform at a high standard in Howe’s starting XI.

If need be, Newcastle could also utilise Botman on the right side of defence. He has been used in that position on several occasions since returning from injury in January.